“The possibility of rupee or barter trade with countries from where India is buying crude oil such as Iran, Venezuela and Russia can be looked at,” the official told the Indian media outlet, India’s The Economic Times reports
India’s Commerce, Industry, and Civil Aviation Minister, Suresh Prabhu, held a meeting on Thursday to discuss “stepping up domestic production of goods across key sectors, to increase domestic availability and promote economic growth and export capacity,” the ministry said in a statement.
According to the official, the attendees at the meeting also discussed the possibility of creating a rupee-yuan payment mechanism for trading with China, and discussed accepting “any country’s proposal that is willing to trade in euro and rupee.”
India’s idea to use rupees or a barter system in its oil trade with Russia, Iran, and Venezuela comes as U.S. sanctions on Iran draws near and are just over four weeks away. In addition, rallying oil prices and plunging Indian currency is further straining the finances and the oil import bill of the world’s third-biggest oil importer and Iran’s second-largest oil customer after China.
