Industry Odisha Bureau, Sep 10: India’s trade with BRICS nations has expanded dramatically over five years. Total goods trade reached $417.5 billion during FY26. That figure stood at just $203.1 billion back in FY21. Behind this growth lies a more complicated story.
Exports to BRICS countries grew at a modest pace. They rose from $64.3 billion to $95.7 billion overall. That represents growth of roughly 48.8 percent. Imports told a very different story entirely.
India’s imports from BRICS nearly tripled during this period. They climbed from $138.8 billion to $321.8 billion. That translates to import growth of 131.8 percent. Such a gap couldn’t leave the trade balance unaffected.
India’s trade deficit with BRICS has widened considerably as a result. It stood at $74.5 billion back in FY21. By FY26, that deficit had reached $226.1 billion. The shortfall has effectively more than tripled in five years.
This shift also changed BRICS’ role within India’s broader trade. The bloc’s share of India’s exports barely moved. It slipped slightly from 22 percent to 21.7 percent. Imports tell a different story about BRICS’ growing importance.
BRICS now accounts for 41.5 percent of India’s total imports. That’s a sharp rise from 35.2 percent five years ago. Clearly, BRICS has become far more vital as a supplier.
Not every trade relationship followed this pattern, though. The UAE emerged as India’s top BRICS export destination. Exports there reached $37.4 billion, up 124 percent since FY21. Other markets grew more modestly by comparison.
China absorbed $19.5 billion in Indian exports during FY26. Saudi Arabia followed at $10.3 billion in the same period. Brazil and South Africa each took in roughly $7 billion. Exports actually declined toward Indonesia, Iran and Ethiopia.
On the import side, China’s dominance remains unmistakable. Imports from China doubled from $65.2 billion to $131.6 billion. China alone supplied about 41 percent of India’s BRICS imports.
Russia’s role, however, transformed even more dramatically. Imports from Russia jumped from $5.5 billion to $55.4 billion. That’s an increase of more than tenfold in five years. Higher energy purchases largely explain this remarkable surge, per GTRI.
Together, China, the UAE and Russia now dominate India’s import basket. These three suppliers account for almost 84 percent of BRICS imports. Such concentration highlights how few sources drive this trade relationship.
Much of what India imports serves genuine economic needs. Machinery, industrial inputs, energy and commodities feature prominently here. These goods support manufacturing, infrastructure and broader domestic production capacity.
Seen globally, BRICS members trade heavily among themselves too. Intra-BRICS exports total roughly $1.1 trillion, GTRI reports. Imports between members reach an even larger $1.4 trillion figure. For BRICS collectively, imports matter more than exports do.
GTRI founder Ajay Srivastava has flagged India’s imbalance as a priority. He recommends pursuing better market access in China, Russia and Indonesia. Srivastava also suggests tackling non-tariff barriers more aggressively going forward. Diversifying away from a few dominant suppliers matters too, he argues.
Without stronger exports, deeper BRICS integration could widen India’s deficit further. The real challenge lies in matching import growth with export gains.
