India identifies 300 products to boost India’s exports to Russia

Around 300 products spanning sectors such as engineering, pharmaceuticals, agriculture and chemicals offer significant scope for Indian exporters to expand shipments to Russia as both countries work towards a bilateral trade target of USD 100 billion by 2030, an official said.

Currently, India exports goods worth about USD 1.7 billion in these categories to Russia, while Russia’s total imports in the same segments amount to USD 37.4 billion.

“The wide gap highlights the sizeable complementary export opportunity available to India,” the official said, noting that higher exports could also help narrow India’s trade deficit with Russia, which stands at USD 59 billion.

The commerce ministry identified these high-potential items by studying complementary trade baskets, comparing India’s export capabilities with Russia’s import demand across major sectors, the official added.

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The most promising areas mirror India’s rising global strengths are engineering goods, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and agriculture, all of which correspond to substantial unmet demand in the Russian market.

India’s share in Russia’s import basket remains modest around 2.3 per cent.

New Delhi’s imports from Moscow surged from USD 5.94 billion in 2020 to USD 64.24 billion in 2024 which is a more than tenfold jump driven almost entirely by mineral fuels or crude oil increasing from USD 2 billion in 2020 to USD 57 billion in 2024.

Oil accounts for nearly 21 per cent of total India’s imports of oil, cementing Russia’s role as a key trading partner. Beyond hydrocarbons, fertilisers and vegetable oils are other imported products.

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On the exports front, agriculture and allied products reveal particularly strong promise.

India currently exports USD 452 million of products (opportunity products) to Russia against their global import demand of USD 3.9 billion.

Meanwhile, engineering goods present one of the widest gaps with India exporting USD 90 million, while Russia imports USD 2.7 billion in this segment, with growing room as Russia diversifies away from China.

Chemicals and plastics show a similar pattern, with India contributing USD 135 million to a demand of USD 2.06 billion.

Further pharmaceuticals remain a strategic corridor, too, as India supplies USD 546 million, but Russia’s pharma import bill touches USD 9.7 billion, making generics and APIs (active pharma ingredients) significant growth levers.

Beyond these high-value sectors, India’s labour-intensive industries — textiles, apparel, leather goods, handicrafts, processed foods and light engineering — hold substantial promise given Russia’s large consumer base and India’s cost competitiveness, the official said.

Electronics and textiles currently have a market share below 1 per cent, yet demand is sizeable, offering space for scale if supported by stronger distribution networks.

With inputs from agencies