NEW DELHI, January 19. /TASS/. India’s payment system, RuPay, may be used in Russian-Indian trade, Director General & CEO of the Federation of Indian export organizations, Dr. Ajay Sahai told TASS.

"While an alternative to SWIFT is being deliberated, various banking transaction mechanisms can be explored since the usage of RuPay is growing by leaps and bounds, the mechanism can also be used for trading between India and Russia," he noted.

Sahai noted that settlements for both imports and exports in Indian rupees are India's current priority. "The balance lying in India can be used by Russia for investment through joint ventures in a large number of sectors, including [those] in the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) sector industries. Russia can also invest in [the] Pharma and Gems and Jewelry sector having buyback arrangements as a readily available market exists in Russia," he added.

In general, India is focused on promoting bilateral trade with countries, which for various reasons are unable to make transactions in freely convertible currencies, or feel that trading in local currencies can boost bilateral trade. He recalled that Russia is one of the countries with which such a mechanism, implying payment in Indian rupees and Russian rubles, has already been worked out. "This may be the first step towards [the] internationalization of Rupee. But we have a long distance to go," Sahai emphasized.

RuPay is the national payment system of India, created by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). The name RuPay is an acronym for the words "rupee" and "payment."

Earlier, Russian Ambassador to New Delhi Denis Alipov said in an interview with TASS that India and Russia are actively discussing the mutual recognition of the Mir and RuPay payment systems.