India Russia trade in local currency has actually reached over 90%, and this development has catalyzed various major shifts in bilateral commerce. Russia’s First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov confirmed that India Russia trade in local currency has moved almost entirely away from the US dollar, with the BRICS currency shift accelerating across several key financial channels. This transition represents one of the clearest examples of BRICS de-dollarization in action right now, and it’s fundamentally transforming how Russia trade with other countries gets settled through numerous significant payment mechanisms.
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BRICS Currency Shift Boosts India Russia Trade In Local Currency
Officials Confirm the Scale of India Russia Trade in Local Currency
Necessity and strategic positioning shaped the transformation in India Russia trade in local currency rather than deliberate planning from the start. Through several key policy initiatives, bilateral trade between the two nations grew significantly, reaching approximately $68 billion in 2024-25 according to available data. Trade turnover has actually spearheaded a remarkable expansion, increasing by nearly seven times over the past five years across multiple essential sectors.
Denis Manturov stated:
“Providing for seamless mutual payments is a no less important task, especially in current realities. We have already managed to transfer more than 90% of payments between Russia and India to national currencies.”
Russian Ambassador to India Denis Alipov also emphasized the stability of this arrangement and the various major benefits it has engineered, saying:
“Mutual payments in national currencies are stable. As of today, national currencies account for around 90% of direct payments between Russia and India.”
What’s really interesting here is that the India Russia trade in local currency system relies heavily on Special Rupee Vostro Accounts, which have been authorized by the Reserve Bank of India and also implemented across numerous significant banking institutions. These accounts let Russian entities hold and spend rupees directly, and this mechanism has effectively leveraged certain critical advantages while bypassing dollar-dependent infrastructure.
How Russia Trade with Other Countries Is Being Reshaped
The pattern extends well beyond just India, actually, encompassing various major regional partnerships. Russia trade with other countries, particularly China, has revolutionized traditional payment structures right now, with over 90% of Russia China India trade now settled in national currencies such as the ruble, rupee, and yuan. Through several key strategic initiatives, this BRICS de-dollarization represents a practical response to Western sanctions that blocked Moscow’s access to dollar payment systems like SWIFT, and the shift happened more organically than many expected.
India’s External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar addressed the importance of this development and also highlighted its broader implications at the India-Russia Business Forum in Mumbai:
“Mutual settlement of trade in national currencies is of great importance.”
According to trade statistics, Russian exports to India soared to 60 billion dollars in first 11 months of 2024, an increase of 7.7 percent, and Indian imports soared to 4.5 billion, an increase of 23.3 percent in various important product lines. In addition to energy imports, the trade incorporates defence equipment, fertilizers, and other industrial goods that have streamlined bilateral economic relationships. The Russia trade with other nations proves that international trading on a large scale can actually be actually effective outside of the traditional Western financial systems at this point in time.
Currently, there are cases when some Indian companies apply alternative currencies to select Russian transactions, such as the UAE dirham, which implies that the system is still in its rough state as well as it is a pointer of the processes of adaptation. The rupee-ruble currency volatility may cause some inconveniences during long-term contract planning, though both the countries are devising a plan to deal with these problems by making numerous important policy changes.
The Broader BRICS Currency Shift and Future Integration
The BRICS currency shift goes beyond just bilateral arrangements between two countries and has actually catalyzed various major financial innovations. At the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia unveiled a symbolic BRICS banknote, signaling commitment to local currency settlements across member states and also establishing a foundation for several key initiatives. Both Russia and India are discussing ways to integrate their domestic payment systems—Russia’s Mir and India’s RuPay—which would deepen financial cooperation even further and reduce dependence on Western networks through multiple strategic channels.
Manturov added:
“The share of national and alternative currencies in bilateral trade is growing – it has already reached 90%. We believe it is necessary to continue working on expanding correspondent relations between Russian and Indian banks.”
The Russia-China-India trade model now serves as a blueprint for other nations that are looking at alternatives to dollar dominance and also exploring certain critical pathways toward financial sovereignty. It demonstrates that the BRICS de-dollarization process can support substantial economic relationships while operating outside conventional financial infrastructure, which numerous significant market observers questioned just a few years ago right now.
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India-Russia trade in local currency arrangements prove more resilient than analysts initially expected, and the numbers speak for themselves across various major economic indicators. Sanctions and restrictions drove the shift away from dollar-based transactions, but Moscow and New Delhi created a functioning alternative that handles billions of dollars in annual trade and also pioneers new approaches to international settlements. Russia’s trade with other countries might follow similar patterns if geopolitical tensions continue, and the BRICS currency shift could accelerate even more over the coming years through several key developments. At the time of writing, this transformation demonstrates how international finance can adapt pretty quickly when circumstances demand it, leveraging multiple essential mechanisms even if the process isn’t always smooth or perfectly efficient.