India has addressed several non-tariff barriers (NTBs) with Russia for several sectors like marine, agricultural, engineering goods and the exports of these items are likely to go up in the coming months, said a source from the Ministry of Commerce, aware of the matter.
“Marine agriculture, then electronics, engineering goods, they are all there (for which NTBs have been discussed and addressed). So for example in engineering goods, there are European Commission standards, there are Russian standards. For one set of products they would have European Commission standard, Eurasian Commission standard. For other set of products they would have Russian standard. Our export is also confused, which standards to apply,” said the source.
The source even confirmed that even Russian President has assured that they will also work on this and there is a strong political will on both the sides to address the NTBs.
India is aiming to address several non-tariff issues with Russia to minimize the trade imbalance. India has identified over 65 non-tariff measures affecting its trade with Russia, primarily in areas of marine and agricultural exports. India’s imports from Russia surged nearly twelvefold — from $5.48 billion in FY21 to $63.81 billion in FY25 — driven largely by discounted crude oil purchases, according to Commerce Ministry data. In contrast, India’s exports to Russia rose only 84% during the same period, resulting in the trade deficit widening more than twentyfold — from $2.8 billion in FY21 to $58.9 billion in FY25.
Defence exports and technology transfers are likely to feature prominently in India’s ongoing FTA talks with Russia, officials said. With Russia increasingly sourcing consumer goods from China amid the war-driven economy, India is exploring opportunities across goods and services, including labour mobility, though language barriers could limit services-sector movement, said the sources.