Trade turnover between India and Russia jumped sharply in 2023, reaching a record $65 billion, according to Sputnik calculations based on data from India's statistics service.
According to the data, India's imports of Russian products increased 1.8 times to $60.1 billion at the end of last year, making Russia the second largest supplier of goods to India. Russia now trails only China, which supplies $100 billion worth of goods to India.
Meanwhile, exports of Indian goods increased 1.4 times to $4 billion.
This made Russia India's fourth largest trading partner, displacing Saudi Arabia, as trade between the two countries increased from $37 billion a year earlier to $65 billion in 2023.
However, the United States remains India's primary trading partner, despite a 9 percent decline in trade volume between the two countries to $119 billion.
Following the US, China ranks as India's second-largest trading partner, with trade volume declining by 2 percent to $116 billion, while the UAE holds the position of the third-largest trading partner, experiencing a 7 percent decrease to $78 billion.
Additionally, Saudi Arabia stands as India's fifth-largest trade partner, with a trade volume of $44 billion, witnessing a decline of 17 percent.
Rounding out the top 10 trade partners of India are Singapore ($34 billion), Iraq ($33 billion), Indonesia ($30 billion), Netherlands ($28.4 billion), and South Korea ($27.7 billion).
Notably, apart from Russia, the Netherlands is the only country to experience an increase in trade volume, while trade volume with all other countries has declined.
Earlier this year, India's Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Sarbanand Sonowal, predicted that the trade between India and Russia would increase in 2024.
"Our bilateral partnership has expanded and become multi-faceted, including cooperation in the military, security, science and technology fields. Bilateral trade between India and Russia registered rapid growth in the last fiscal year when it touched $50 billion and is likely to continue this year. It will increase further in the next financial year," the minister said while addressing the first Indo-Russian workshop on 'Operationalisation of the Eastern Maritime Corridor' in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.