As India and Russia pursue a $100 billion bilateral trade target by 2030 and seek to make exchanges more balanced, the government has identified about 300 products across sectors such as engineering, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and agriculture to help bridge the gap between current trade levels and the five-year target.
Total trade between India and Russia stood at $68.6 billion in 2024–25, of which India’s oil imports accounted for $56.8 billion. India’s exports were $4.8 billion, while imports reached $63.8 billion. The surge in oil imports following the Russia-Ukraine conflict has been largely driven by geopolitical factors.
“India’s share in Russia’s import basket remains modest around 2.3% yet the complementarity between India’s global export strengths and Russia’s demand profile offers significant headroom. Engineering goods, pharma, chemicals, and farm sectors are natural fits for expansion,” officials said.
High-potential products have been identified by analysing complementary trade baskets, mapping India’s supply capabilities against Russia’s demand.
“The identified opportunity basket spans 300 products, for which India’s exports to Russia total $ 1.7 billion, compared to $ 37.4 billion overall import of these products by Russia. This stark disparity demonstrates the substantial complementary export space India can target,” the officials added.
High-Potential Sectors
Agriculture and allied sectors show particularly strong promise. India currently exports about $452 million of agricultural products to Russia, against Moscow’s global import demand of $3.9 billion. Engineering goods present one of the widest gaps, with India exporting just $90 million while Russia imports $2.7 billion. Chemicals and plastics show a similar pattern, with Indian exports of $135 million against Russian imports of $2.06 billion.
Pharmaceutical products are another area of strong potential. India supplies about $546 million worth of pharmaceutical items products, while Russia’s total pharma import bill stands at $9.7 billion, making generic medicines and active pharmaceutical ingredients key growth levers.
Electronics and textiles currently have market shares below 1%, but demand remains sizeable, offering scope for expansion if supported by stronger distribution networks.
A study by the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said India could lift its exports to Russia sevenfold—to $35 billion from about $5 billion—if it cracks market access in food, pharmaceuticals, textiles and machinery.
Payments and Access
Apart from compliance challenges flagged by exporters, the other major friction in bilateral trade is payments, with Russian banks largely shut out of the SWIFT system. “This makes deals slow, costly and uncertain, one way out is the wider push to local-currency settlement backed by credible clearing arrangements and greater involvement of India and Russian banks,” the GTRI had said.
To better connect buyers and sellers, the think tank also recommended regular trade missions, business meetings and stronger institutional support.