Latest News | FIEO Calls for Finding Way for Rupee-rouble Trade with Russia

New Delhi, Apr 26 (PTI) The government should find ways to start rupee-rouble trade with Russia as it would help exporters deal with economic sanctions imposed by western countries on Russia, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President A Sakthivel said on Tuesday.

He said that the government should identify 5-6 banks through which exporters of both countries can follow the mechanism.

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"The government has to find a way for rupee-rouble trade. Like it did with Iran, the government has to do for Russia also," he said.

"Our suggestion is that whatever we import from Russia, we will pay in rupee and Russia can keep that rupee in a separate account and use that to pay for our exports," he added.

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Sakthivel said that the main issue is fixing the exchange rate for the rouble. He added that international sanctions on Russia provide business opportunities for Indian exporters.

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the West has slapped a slew of sanctions on Russia and has also isolated the country from the payment systems, which is impacting settling trade payments.

Major export items from India to Russia include pharmaceutical products, tea, electrical machinery and equipment, organic chemicals, and vehicles.

In the past too, India had devised a mechanism to pay for imports from Iran, when sanctions were imposed on the Persian Gulf nation.

India's exports to Russia stood at USD 3.2 billion in 2021-22 as against USD 2.7 billion in 2020-21. Imports were at USD 8.7 billion last fiscal year as against USD 7 billion in 2020-21.

Talking about India-UK free trade pact, Sakthivel said that the pact would help boost India's exports.

He said that FIEO is waiting for global data after which it would be able to finalise the exports target for the current fiscal.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)