India-Russia Trade: The USD 100 Billion Target, the EAEU Free Trade Deal and Market Access
India's Ambassador to Russia said India and Russia are on track to reach USD 100 billion of bilateral trade by 2030. This target was set by the leaders of both countries in 2024.
Trade between the two countries (trade turnover, meaning exports plus imports) was USD 38 billion in the first six months of 2026.
India is focusing on three things: diversifying its export basket (selling a wider range of products), improving market access in Russia, and negotiating a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).
India is working with Russian authorities to remove standards-related and non-tariff barriers that Indian exporters face, especially for agricultural and marine (sea food) products.
On Western criticism of India's oil imports from Russia, the Ambassador said India's policy is guided by energy security for 1.4 billion people: diversified, predictable supplies at competitive prices. He noted that Europe has imported more than USD 320 billion of Russian energy since 2022.
The remarks came at the second edition of the India-Russia Business Forum "Tatarstan Initiative Mutual Efficiency" (TIME) in Kazan, Russia.
Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU)
The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) is a group of five former Soviet countries that have joined their economies together: Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. Inside the union, goods, services, money and workers can move freely, and all members charge the same import tax (a common external tariff) on goods coming from outside. Because of this, a trade deal with the EAEU is negotiated with the union as a whole, not with Russia alone.
The Ambassador named the EAEU FTA as one of India's three priorities. Since Russia sets its import duties together with the other EAEU members, a deal with the whole union is the route to lower tariffs for Indian goods in Russia and its neighbours.
India-Russia Relations: Strategic Partnership in a Polarised World
India and Russia (earlier the Soviet Union) have had a close relationship since India's independence. It rests on defence supplies, energy, nuclear power, space and support for each other at the United Nations. Since 2010, both sides call it a "Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership". In recent years, trade has jumped because India buys a lot of Russian crude oil, but India sells very little to Russia, so the trade is badly unbalanced.
The trade numbers are large, but they are driven by oil. That is why the Ambassador stressed finding new Indian products to export and raising the volume of existing ones: without that, the USD 100 billion target would come mostly from more Indian oil purchases and a wider trade deficit.
Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs): Types and the WTO Framework
A non-tariff barrier (NTB) is any trade hurdle, other than an import tax, that makes it harder or costlier to sell goods in another country. Examples are quotas, import licences, strict product standards, testing and certification rules, and approval or registration of foreign factories. Some of these rules have genuine aims, like protecting health, but they can also be used to keep foreign goods out.
The Ambassador said India is working on "standards and non-tariff barriers", especially for agricultural and marine products. For many Indian food exporters, the real blocker in Russia is not the tariff but getting their plants approved and their products certified.
- India-Russia bilateral trade target: USD 100 billion by 2030 (set at the July 2024 Moscow summit)
- Trade turnover in the first six months of 2026: USD 38 billion
- Bilateral trade in FY 2024-25: USD 68.7 billion (Indian exports about USD 4.9 billion; imports about USD 63.8 billion)
- Europe's imports of Russian energy since 2022: more than USD 320 billion (as cited by the Ambassador)
- EAEU members: Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan; working since 1 January 2015
- India-EAEU FTA Terms of Reference finalised: 20 August 2025, Moscow (26th IRIGC-TEC)
- India-Russia "Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership": since 2010 (Strategic Partnership: 2000)
- India-Russia Business Forum "TIME" (2nd edition) held in Kazan, capital of Tatarstan