Oil, tourism and beyond: How India and Russia can help each other

Russian President Vladimir Putin
begins a two-day go to to India on Thursday the place he and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will collectively oversee the twenty third India-Russia Annual Summit.

This marks Putin’s first journey to New Delhi in 4 years.

Though defence ties between the 2 nations have traditionally shaped the spine of their partnership, the upcoming summit additionally places the highlight on on commerce, labour mobility, industrial partnerships, prescription drugs, and tourism.

India and Russia plan to signal a number of agreements geared toward widening cooperation effectively past their conventional energy-heavy engagement.

How Russia-India partnership deepened through power

India-Russia commerce has undergone a dramatic transformation within the final 5 years, pushed largely by
India’s purchases of discounted Russian crude oil following the Ukraine battle.

Bilateral commerce reached roughly USD 69.2 billion in 2024, in contrast with USD 8.5 billion in 2020 — a staggering rise pushed nearly completely by hydrocarbon imports.

India’s oil purchases alone account for an amazing proportion of the import invoice.

Crude oil price USD 23.1 billion shaped the majority of the power basket, complemented by petroleum derivatives valued round USD 2.5 billion, coal approaching USD 1.9 billion, fertilisers at roughly USD 1.3 billion, and sunflower oil at USD 633 million.

Russia’s position as a provider of diamonds additional contributed an extra USD 202 million.

This surge in power inflows has concurrently widened India’s commerce deficit with Russia to unprecedented ranges.

Imports from Russia stood at USD 63.2 billion in FY24 and climbed marginally to USD 63.8 billion in FY25. With Indian exports to Russia reaching solely USD 4.8-4.9 billion throughout the identical interval, the detrimental commerce stability now hovers round USD 59 billion.

Indian officers acknowledge that the present trajectory is unsustainable, highlighting the necessity for an export-oriented push. Russia’s whole import patterns reveal that India constitutes solely 2.3 per cent of its inbound commerce, suggesting appreciable headroom to increase.

A senior authorities consultant highlighted the core overlap between India’s capabilities and Russian market demand, telling PTI, “Essentially the most promising areas that mirror India’s rising world strengths are engineering items, prescription drugs, chemical compounds and agriculture, all of which correspond to substantial unmet demand within the Russian market.”

The official additionally burdened the structural reorientation underway, noting, “India-Russia commerce is transferring from a slender, energy-heavy engagement towards a extra layered and resilient financial relationship. The following chapter is determined by India’s skill to deepen export penetration, particularly in sectors the place it has confirmed world competitiveness.”

How India can match its exports with Russia’s import gaps

The shift towards non-energy commerce is being pushed by sharp mismatches
between what Russia wants and what India presently provides.

Engineering items: The most important untapped window

Russia’s whole import urge for food for engineering merchandise stands at roughly USD 2.7-2.8 billion, but India sells barely USD 90 million price of such items.

As Western restrictions and provide chain realignments push Moscow to diversify its sourcing, Indian firms see a chance to increase their footprint in equipment, industrial gear, and lightweight engineering.

Prescribed drugs

India’s pharmaceutical exports to Russia reached USD 577 million in FY25, however this determine stays small when put next with Russia’s general pharmaceutical import invoice of USD 9.7-9.76 billion.

India already supplies USD 546 million price of generic medicines and APIs.

Amid world tariff uncertainty, particularly as a result of United States’ imposition of duties as much as 50 per cent on sure Indian sectors, home pharmaceutical corporations need to broaden their presence in markets reminiscent of Russia, Brazil and the Netherlands.

The US accounted for a 3rd of India’s pharmaceutical exports — round USD 10.5 billion in FY25 — so diversification has change into a strategic precedence for drug producers.

Chemical substances and plastics

Russia’s annual import demand for chemical compounds and plastics exceeds USD 4 billion. India’s contribution, roughly USD 135 million, signifies substantial room for scale-up.

Demand for natural chemical compounds in Russia, together with inputs for industrial and manufacturing functions, has risen since sanctions restricted Moscow’s entry to conventional suppliers.

Agriculture and meals merchandise

India’s agricultural exports to Russia stand at USD 452 million, whereas Moscow imports round USD 4 billion price of world agricultural items.

India is pushing for higher entry for meals gadgets, processed merchandise, and value-added agri-exports — particularly in classes the place it has a aggressive edge.

Diamonds and gold

India’s diamond processing sector — one of many world’s largest — depends considerably on Russian provides of tough stones.

Russia is the largest world producer of tough diamonds, and India’s reducing and sharpening industries have lengthy trusted Alrosa, Russia’s main mining firm.

Russian diamond shipments to India totalled USD 31.3 million in August 2025, greater than double the USD 13.4 million recorded a yr earlier.

Nonetheless, regardless of this month-to-month spike, general imports through the first eight months of 2025 dropped practically 40 per cent, falling to USD 342.1 million.

This contraction stems from sweeping Western sanctions. The EU and G7 nations have banned direct imports of Russian non-industrial diamonds starting in January 2024.

The restrictions had been later tightened to incorporate diamonds lower or polished in third nations in the event that they originated in Russia.

Indian merchants are additionally contending with a 50 per cent tariff imposed by america on polished diamonds, which features a punitive 25 per cent element linked to India’s continued purchases of Russian oil.

India has concurrently elevated gold imports from Russia this yr, reflecting an try by Indian companies to diversify sourcing amid fluctuating world markets.

Client items stay marginal

Exports to Russia additionally embody equipment (USD 367.8 million), prescription drugs (USD 246 million), and natural chemical compounds (USD 165.8 million) through the first half of FY26. Nonetheless, high-visibility shopper classes symbolize small slices of the export pie:

• Smartphones: USD 75.9 million

• Vannamei shrimp: USD 75.7 million

• Meat: USD 63 million

• Clothes: roughly USD 20.94 million

Electronics and textiles every maintain lower than 1 per cent market share in Russia, regardless of rising demand. Officers argue that higher distribution networks might assist India seize a bigger share.

India’s exports to Russia, in the meantime, have steadily grown from USD 2.56 billion in 2020 to USD 4.92 billion in 2024, marking considered one of New Delhi’s fastest-expanding business routes.

How tourism has emerged as a robust connector

Whereas commerce occupies a lot of the diplomatic focus, tourism has quickly change into one other pillar of bilateral engagement. Russia’s cultural diplomacy and simplified journey insurance policies have dramatically elevated Indian vacationer arrivals.

Within the first half of 2025, India ranked because the second-largest non-CIS supply of tourists to Moscow. Roughly 40,800 Indian vacationers travelled to the Russian capital between January and June, representing a 40 per cent rise in contrast with the earlier yr.

This enhance has been linked to a number of components together with 
Russia’s streamlined e-visa system, which permits travellers to use on-line inside 4 days, and elevated availability of direct flights and aggressive journey packages.

Rosstat information exhibits a 14 per cent enhance in overseas visitors staying in Moscow resorts through the first seven months of 2025.

Journey platform Ostrovok recorded that 94 per cent of summer season bookings for mid- and high-end resorts had been made by travellers from non-CIS nations — a pointy bounce from 85 per cent the prior yr — with Indians closely represented in premium segments.

The Worldwide Day of Yoga and Bharat Utsav, the Pageant of India in Moscow have offered a platform for a number of India-focused celebrations as effectively.

To cement its reputation amongst Indian travellers, the Moscow Metropolis Tourism Committee has additionally launched a number of focused initiatives.

Indian Vibes in Moscow — a devoted journey information itemizing advisable resorts, eating places, and cultural websites with India hyperlinks was launched whereas participation in main Indian journey expos, together with OTM, SATTE, BLTM, and the MILT Congress was inspired.

A landmark second got here with the OTOAI Conference 2025, hosted in Russia for the primary time, which introduced greater than 250 Indian journey executives and journalists to Moscow for an immersive showcase of town’s tourism infrastructure.

Trying forward, Moscow goals to host as much as 6 million worldwide guests yearly by 2030, pushed by travellers from India, China, West Asia, and the broader Asia-Pacific area.

In 2024 alone, town recorded 26 million vacationers, contributing 235 billion roubles — roughly USD 2.65 billion — in price range revenues.

How labour mobility provides the subsequent main bridge

Labour mobility is about to realize prominence through the summit. India and Russia are
getting ready to signal a framework designed to safeguard the rights of Indian staff and streamline their integration into the Russian labour market.

With its inhabitants declining and several other industries affected by workforce shortages, Russia is more and more turning to India to fill essential positions.

Indian staff are already energetic in Russian sectors reminiscent of building, textiles, manufacturing labour, semi-skilled and expert roles.

Demand is rising notably in equipment manufacturing and electronics meeting as Russia seeks to switch Western labour and know-how dependencies.

Russian labour authorities estimate that greater than 70,000 Indian staff can be employed within the nation by the tip of 2025 underneath quotas set by the labour ministry. A current assembly between India’s labour minister and his Russian counterpart in Doha targeted closely on increasing and regulating this workforce hall.

Consultants in Russian affairs word that this rising diaspora might finally change into a central pillar of the partnership, strengthening social and financial ties between the nations.

With inputs from businesses