India Expects To Double Its Trade With Brazil, Cut Crude Import Dependence

Trade talks between India and Brazil have settled on a new target of $50 billion by 2030 and an immediate doubling of trade in the next three to four years, according to Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal.

India expects ethanol and bio-fuel blending to be one of the areas of cooperation in its talks to reduce dependence on crude imports, he said at a trade briefing in New Delhi on Friday. This comes at a time when global crude prices are in focus, and Brent crude recorded a price of $89.48 per barrel on Friday.

Currently, the trade between the two countries stands at $15.2 billion, Barthwal said.

Last week, the Commerce Secretary attended a trade monitoring mechanism meeting in Brazil, which he termed a “successful visit”.

India and Brazil have agreed to double their trade to $30 billion over the next four years and reach an aspirational target of $50 billion by 2030, Barthwal said. Both economies have also agreed that there is potential for trade growth between them, he said.

To this effect, two working groups will be formed—one on market access issues and another on new areas of cooperation and strengthening existing areas of cooperation.

Commenting on the areas of interest, Barthwal said that biofuels and renewables are important for both countries. “Ethanol and bio-fuel blending is another area of cooperation where we feel Brazil and India can learn from each other. In fact, Brazil has very advanced technologies available for ethanol mixing with petrol and diesel, which will help us reduce our dependence on crude petroleum imports,” he said.

The two countries also spoke about expanding the tariff lines under the Mercosur agreement.

Following the G20 leaders’ meeting, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Brazilian counterpart Lula da Silva agreed to work together on expanding the India-Mercosur Preferential Trade Agreement when Brazil assumes the G20 presidency.

“We discussed on how to expand the Mercosur agreement… both sides agreed that it should be expanded to all the tariff lines where trade occurs and there should be an expansion of goods and services trade between the two countries,” Barthwal said.

Mercosur refers to the trading bloc in the South American region that includes Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. A preferential trade agreement was signed between India and Mercosur on Jan. 25, 2004.

Strengthening MSMEs by means of improving access to information for the sector and sectoral cooperation in tourism are other areas of interest for the two countries, he said.

Source: BQ Prime

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