Today, 90% of payments between India and Russia made through Sber’s services are processed within 10 minutes, while the remaining 10% are completed within 60 seconds. All transactions are conducted in national currencies. Alexander Vedyakhin, First Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board of Sberbank, spoke about this at the plenary session of INNOPROM. India.
The discussion focused on “Strengthening Russia–India Trade and Industrial Partnership: Towards Self-Sufficient Cooperation.” The event is being held ahead of the 18th BRICS Summit.
Alexander Vedyakhin, First Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board of Sberbank, commented, “Two years ago, we spoke about the need to address the issue of payments between Russia and India. Today, 90% of payments are processed within 10 minutes, while the remaining 10% are completed within 60 seconds. In other words, there are virtually no barriers or obstacles to trade anymore. All transactions are conducted in national currencies.”
According to Alexander Vedyakhin, a significant imbalance remains in trade between the two countries. At the same time, there is enormous potential to increase both Indian exports to Russia and Russian exports to India. Much of this potential lies in industrial cooperation. With its extensive customer base across Russia, Sber can help unlock this potential. The bank helps Russian and Indian companies find partners, connecting Russian businesses with suppliers in India and Indian companies with buyers in Russia.
Alexander Vedyakhin, First Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board of Sberbank, added, “Technology is a key area that will help address the trade imbalance, increase trade between our countries and further strengthen bilateral ties. Sber plans to invest in various sectors of the Indian economy, including infrastructure projects. Two large buildings are currently under construction in New Delhi that Sber recently acquired in the Indian capital and plans to commission in 2028. One will house Sber’s Indian office, while the other will accommodate the headquarters of major Russian companies operating in India. We have very ambitious goals and will do everything we can to establish a leading position in India and promote cooperation between our countries.”
The plenary session was also attended by Anton Alikhanov, Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation; Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of India; Ramakrishnan Mukundan, President of the Confederation of Indian Industry; Vikramjit Singh Sahan, Co-Chair of the CII International Council; Kirill Komarov, First Deputy CEO of Rosatom; and Kirill Lipa, CEO of Transmashholding.
India Evolving from Raw Materials Supplier to a High-Tech Partner for Russia
Alexander Vedyakhin noted that while two years ago the top five categories of Indian exports to Russia included pharmaceuticals, chemicals, food products and ferrous metals, supplies of machinery and engineering products, electronics, industrial equipment, automotive components and batteries are now growing rapidly.
Alexander Vedyakhin, First Deputy CEO of Sberbank, mentioned, “India is becoming a high-tech industrial partner for Russian businesses. The share of electrical machinery and industrial equipment in India’s exports to Russia increased from 6.3% to 7.8% in a single financial year. Smartphone exports from India to Russia and the CIS countries more than tripled, reaching $1.1 billion. The textile industry provides another telling example: exports of technical textiles for industrial and medical applications grew by 82% to $23.2 million in 2025. At the same time, the Russian technical textiles market as a whole is estimated at $3 billion.”
Alexander Vedyakhin also noted that Sber’s Business Development service in India identifies Indian suppliers to meet the specific needs of Russian businesses. The total value of payments generated by successful SME transactions during the first eight months of 2026 has already surpassed the figure for the whole of 2025. The next step is to automate the process using AI agents.
According to Strategy Partners, India’s untapped export potential to Russia is estimated at $35.7 billion. India is home to more than one million exporters, but only around 10,000 currently do business with Russia.
PJSC Sberbank is Russia’s largest bank and a leading global financial institution. Holding almost one-third of aggregate Russian banking sector assets, Sberbank is the key lender to the national economy and one of the biggest deposit takers in Russia.
The Government of the Russian Federation represented by the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation is the principal shareholder of PJSC Sberbank owning 50% plus one voting share of the bank’s authorized capital, with the remaining 50% minus one voting share held by domestic and international investors.
