BRICS 2026: From bigger to better? The New Delhi summit may put trade, tech and energy in focus
India is hosting the BRICS Summit in New Delhi under its 2026 chairmanship, with the expanded 11-member grouping on the agenda.
The summit's discussion areas include trade, cross-border payments, startups, artificial intelligence, energy security, critical minerals, and climate finance.
The presidency's stated challenge is converting the bloc's growing economic and geopolitical weight into practical, implementable cooperation given the diverging strategic interests of member states.
The agenda reflects continuity from earlier BRICS priorities on reforming multilateral financial institutions and expanding the New Development Bank's role.
BRICS — Origin, Expansion, and Current Membership
BRICS began as "BRIC" — an acronym coined for Brazil, Russia, India, and China — with the first leaders' summit held in 2009 (Yekaterinburg, Russia). South Africa joined shortly after, making it "BRICS." The grouping is not a treaty-based organization; it operates through summit declarations and a rotating chairmanship, distinguishing it from institutions like the UN or WTO.
The New Delhi summit is the first major leaders' meeting testing whether the post-2024 expanded, more diverse 11-member grouping can move from symbolic solidarity ("bigger") to concrete, implementable outcomes ("better") on trade and technology.
New Development Bank (NDB)
The NDB is BRICS's multilateral development financing institution, created as an alternative funding channel to the World Bank and IMF, which BRICS members have long argued are dominated by advanced economies' voting shares.
Summit discussions on energy and climate finance are expected to touch on expanding the NDB's lending capacity and membership, reinforcing its role as BRICS's flagship financial institution.
Cross-Border Payments and Local-Currency Trade
A recurring BRICS agenda item is reducing dependence on the US dollar for trade settlement among members, sometimes described as "de-dollarization." This is distinct from creating a common BRICS currency, which has not been formally adopted.
Key Details
- BRICS members have discussed local-currency trade settlement mechanisms and payment-system interoperability (sometimes referenced as "BRICS Pay") rather than a single common currency.
- India has separately pursued Rupee-based trade settlement arrangements with select partner countries through RBI-approved Special Rupee Vostro Accounts (introduced 2022).
- Cross-border payment integration was listed among the 2026 summit's discussion themes alongside MSME development and digital trade.
The summit's payments agenda tests whether the expanded, more heterogeneous membership can agree on practical payment-interoperability steps rather than symbolic anti-dollar rhetoric.
India's National Critical Mineral Mission
Critical minerals — inputs essential for clean energy technology, electronics, and defense manufacturing but subject to concentrated global supply — are a live policy area for India, relevant to the summit's critical minerals agenda item.
Key Details
- Union Budget 2024-25 announced the Critical Mineral Mission; the Union Cabinet formally approved the National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM) in January 2026 [reported as approved shortly before the 2025-26 Budget]. [Unverified: exact cabinet approval date]
- Total outlay: Rs 34,300 crore over seven years (2024-25 to 2030-31); Centre's budgetary share is Rs 16,300 crore, with the remainder expected from public and private sector investment.
- India has identified a list of 30 critical minerals (including lithium, cobalt, graphite, rare earth elements, and nickel) vital for energy transition and strategic manufacturing.
Critical minerals cooperation is on the BRICS 2026 agenda partly because several member states (Brazil, Russia, South Africa) are major mineral producers, while India and China are major consumers — making supply-chain cooperation a genuine point of shared, if occasionally competing, interest.
- First BRIC summit: 2009; South Africa joined to form BRICS shortly after.
- 2024 expansion added Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and UAE; current grouping described as 11 members with Indonesia's later entry.
- New Development Bank: established 2014 (Fortaleza Declaration), HQ Shanghai, authorized capital USD 100 billion.
- India's National Critical Mineral Mission: Rs 34,300 crore outlay over seven years (2024-25 to 2030-31); 30 minerals on the critical list.
- India previously chaired BRICS in 2021; hosting again in 2026.