Russian grain exporters count on direct contacts with Indian partners - industry union
MOSCOW. Sept 29 (Interfax) - Russian grain and legume exporters are counting on direct contacts with buyers of these products in India.
Executive Director of the Union of Grain Exporters and Producers Ksenia Bolomatova made this statement at a roundtable as part of a business mission of Russian companies in New Delhi, the Agroexport federal center said. The mission concludes on Sunday.
"We are interested in building long-term direct relationships with Indian buyers and expect to establish these contacts here," Bolomatova said.
Each country has many unique taste preferences, "and in the case of India, these also apply to different regions," she said. Direct contacts will help address these differences.
Bolomatova also noted growing opportunities for supplying Russian pulses to India, including peas, chickpeas, and lentils. Russian pulse production has increased more than 50% over the past five years, with the 2023 harvest reaching nearly 6 million tonnes and over 5.3 million tonnes in 2024. In 2025, the union expects the harvest to be at least at the 2023 level, she said.
Some grain market experts estimate the future harvest at a record 7 million tonnes.
As Agroexport CEO Ilya Ilyushin said earlier during the mission, pulse shipments to India began relatively recently, but last year, pea shipments exceeded 800,000 tonnes and chickpeas 40,000 tonnes.
Bolomatova proposed discussing with Indian partners the possibility of establishing duty-free quotas on yellow peas, chickpeas, and lentils, which would provide predictability for Russian producers and protect the interests of Indian farmers.
Secretary General of the Indian Grains and Pulses Association Satish Upadhyay backed the initiative to establish long-term relations. He said that the two countries needed to think about new, sustainable formats for the long term, as Russia was interested in India, and India was interested in Russia. He said that India is a major consumer of pulses and estimated the country's annual needs at approximately 5 million tonnes.
Aditya Birla Global Trading CEO Nishant Srivastava said that the Indian side was committed to further expanding bilateral cooperation and was working on certification, standardization, and simplification of mutual trade procedures, as well as the development of logistics and financial infrastructure. He also called for discussing the possibility of creating green corridors for agricultural products between the two countries.
More than 30 Russian agricultural exporters, as well as representatives from over 40 Indian companies, industry associations, and government agencies are participating in the business mission to India. The mission was organized by Agroexport and the Russian Agriculture Ministry as part of the World Food India 2025 exhibition.
