In a bid to narrow a large trade deficit with Moscow, India is moving to substantially increase exports of pharmaceuticals, chemicals, engineering goods, and other items. These exports will target the Eurasian Economic Union, a Russia-led economic bloc comprising Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan.
In recent negotiations preceding the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to India, New Delhi has flagged specific thrust areas, including pharmaceuticals, chemicals, engineering goods, machinery, automotive components, agriculture and marine produce for expanded export access.
Officials note that India currently faces non-tariff and regulatory barriers that constrain its exports. For instance, there are more than 65 types of non-tariff barriers to marine exports in Russia, while pharma goods face hold-ups due to regulations, trials, and pricing.
According to the Commerce Ministry, these issues are now being addressed as both sides map out an agenda for a potential free trade agreement or closer trade pact. Other areas likely to be discussed include customs, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, and technical regulations, among others.
An unprecedented increase in the trade imbalance between the two drives this urgency. In the last few years, bilateral trade between India and EAEU/Russia has surged, largely due to increased Indian imports of Russian oil and other energy supplies. As a result, India's trade deficit rose to nearly US$59 billion in the fiscal year 2024–25.
Meanwhile, there is great untapped demand in Russia for Indian goods. For example, while India's chemical and plastic exports to Russia currently hover around US$135 million, Russia's demand in that segment is estimated at roughly US$4 billion.
Similarly, Indian pharmaceutical exports to Russia amount to around US$546 million, a fraction of Russia's total pharma import bill of around US$9.7-9.8 billion.
Trade officials are of the view that by leveraging this demand and securing smoother regulatory and customs procedures through negotiations, India can significantly scale up its exports in these sectors.
This will not only bring immediate commercial benefits to Indian exporters, particularly in the pharmaceuticals, chemicals and engineering goods categories, but also contribute towards rebalancing the broader trade deficit with the EAEU bloc.
With talks intensifying between both sides, many in New Delhi see this push as a strategic step: to transform the energy-led, one-sided trade partnership into a more balanced and diversified economic engagement, with Indian industry getting a bigger share in the emerging import markets of Eurasia.