India Should Address Widening Trade Deficit With BRICS Countries
China, the UAE and Russia supplied almost 84% of India’s BRICS imports. Imports from China reached $131.6 billion, while those from Russia increased more than tenfold to $55.4 billion due to crude oil imports
Chennai: India’s trade deficit with BRICS countries have tripled in the past five years as imports, especially from China, outpaced exports. India has the largest trade deficit in the bloc. Hence India should balance its trade with BRICS by increasing exports of goods in demand, seeking better market access, addressing non-tariff barriers, and promoting higher-value exports, finds GTRI.
India’s trade with other BRICS countries doubled from $203.1 billion in FY2021 to $417.5 billion in FY2026. However, trade deficit tripled from $74.5 billion to $226.1 billion. India’s exports to BRICS grew 48.8% to $95.7 billion, but imports surged 131.8% to $321.8 billion.
“India recorded the bloc’s largest trade deficit and must expand exports to China, Russia and Indonesia while reducing dependence on a few major suppliers,” finds GTRI.
China, the UAE and Russia supplied almost 84% of India’s BRICS imports. Imports from China reached $131.6 billion, while those from Russia increased more than tenfold to $55.4 billion due to crude oil imports.
BRICS controls 22 per cent of global exports, but only 4% is intra-BRICS trade. This provides India a huge potential to expand its exports.
The UAE was India’s largest export market within BRICS in FY2026, receiving goods worth $37.4 billion, up 124% from FY2021. China ranked second at $19.5 billion. Other major destinations were Saudi Arabia at $10.3 billion, Brazil and South Africa at $7 billion each, and Russia and Indonesia at $4.5 billion each. India’s exports declined to Indonesia, Iran and Ethiopia.
“There is considerable scope for growth through better market access, lower trade barriers, improved logistics, local-currency settlement and more diversified supply chains,” it said.
For India, the priority should be to correct the growing imbalance. BRICS is becoming an increasingly important source of machinery, industrial inputs, energy and commodities, but it is not absorbing a comparable share of Indian exports.
India should seek better market access in China, Russia and Indonesia, address non-tariff barriers, promote higher-value exports and reduce excessive dependence on a few BRICS suppliers. Without stronger export growth, deeper intra-BRICS trade could further widen India’s already large trade deficit, GTRI added.
