Russia identifies six key export areas for India; ready to ease trade rules

Russia has identified six sectors — including consumer goods, pharmaceuticals, and telecom equipment — where Indian companies can expand their presence in the Russian market. As the India–Russia Business Forum opened on Thursday, both sides acknowledged India’s widening trade deficit with Russia and committed to correcting the imbalance by boosting Indian exports.

Senior Russian officials said they are willing to ease requirements related to payments, certifications, and other regulatory conditions to support Indian exporters.

“We need to bring more diversity in our trade basket. We need to make it more balanced between India and Russia. We need to add more variety,” Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said in his opening remarks.

India and Russia have set a target to raise bilateral trade to $100 billion by 2030. However, Goyal pointed out that the trade composition remains “heavily skewed”.

Maxim Oreshkin, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office of the Russian Federation, highlighted six priority areas where Indian exports can grow: consumer goods, food and agricultural products, generic medicines and pharmaceuticals, telecom equipment, labour services, and machine parts.

India’s imports from Russia surged nearly twelvefold — from $5.48 billion in FY21 to $63.81 billion in FY25 — driven largely by discounted crude oil purchases, according to Commerce Ministry data. In contrast, India’s exports to Russia rose only 84% during the same period, resulting in the trade deficit widening more than twentyfold — from $2.8 billion in FY21 to $58.9 billion in FY25.

Rajesh Agrawal, Secretary in the Department of Commerce, said the focus should shift beyond increasing volumes in existing categories.

“One of the key aspects we need to address is not just trading more of what we trade today, but changing the composition of goods so that trade becomes more balanced. India has a lot more to offer,” he said.

Indian exporters currently face multiple non-tariff barriers in Russia, including over 65 for marine exports alone, along with several compliance hurdles for agricultural shipments.