India Eyes $200-Billion Export Opportunity Across BRICS Markets by 2030

India could more than double its exports to BRICS economies to around $200 billion by 2030, as the expanded grouping creates a larger market for Indian engineering goods, electronics, automobiles, pharmaceuticals, textiles, agricultural products and digital services.

The projection comes from the ASSOCHAM Global Strategy and Research Centre study, The Rise of BRICS Nations: An Opportunity to Scale Indian Exports to USD 200 Billion to BRICS by 2030. ASSOCHAM estimates that Indian exports to BRICS economies, which stood at about $96 billion in FY2025-26, could cross the $200-billion mark by the end of the decade if India strengthens manufacturing competitiveness, removes trade bottlenecks and builds deeper commercial links across the bloc.

India-BRICS Trade Has Already Doubled in Five Years

The opportunity is emerging from a trading relationship that has expanded rapidly.

India’s total trade with BRICS countries rose from around $203 billion in 2020-21 to $417 billion in 2025-26, making the grouping an increasingly important part of India’s external economic engagement.

The challenge now is to increase the share of Indian exports within that trade.

ASSOCHAM believes India’s share of the BRICS economies’ total global imports could rise to around 4 per cent by 2030. Achieving that would require Indian companies to capture demand that is currently being met by suppliers from outside the grouping.

The opportunity is particularly significant because the expanded BRICS brings together some of the world’s largest consumer markets, manufacturing centres, energy producers and emerging economies.

The grouping now represents roughly 40 per cent of global GDP, about 26 per cent of world trade and close to half of the world’s population, according to the ASSOCHAM assessment.

Where India Can Expand Exports

The export opportunity is spread across a broad range of sectors rather than a handful of commodities.

ASSOCHAM identifies electronic equipment, minerals and metal products, chemicals, automobiles and auto components, engineering goods, pharmaceuticals, textiles, leather products, gems and jewellery, rice, processed food and marine products among the areas with significant room for expansion.

Several of these sectors already have established manufacturing and export bases in India.

Engineering companies can tap demand generated by infrastructure, mining, manufacturing and energy investment across BRICS markets. India’s pharmaceutical industry has an opportunity to expand supplies of generic medicines and healthcare products, while automotive companies can target both finished vehicles and component supply chains.

Electronics is particularly important because India’s domestic manufacturing base has expanded rapidly in recent years. Exporting a greater share of that production to large emerging markets would help India move beyond assembly-led growth towards deeper participation in international electronics value chains.

Textiles, food products and marine exports offer a different opportunity. These are sectors where India already possesses scale, but where market access, logistics, certification requirements and product positioning can determine whether exporters are able to capture higher-value demand.

The Real Opportunity Is in Value Chains

The ASSOCHAM study goes beyond simply selling more Indian goods.

For India, deeper BRICS economic integration could help build production networks, sourcing arrangements, technology partnerships and resilient supply chains across developing economies.

That matters because global companies and governments are increasingly trying to reduce excessive dependence on individual markets or supply sources.

India could position itself as both a major manufacturing location and a supplier within diversified BRICS value chains.

The bloc’s members possess complementary strengths. Some are major energy and mineral producers. Others have large manufacturing bases, agricultural resources, financial centres or rapidly expanding consumer markets.

For Indian companies, the opportunity lies in connecting these capabilities rather than treating every BRICS market merely as an export destination.

South-South Trade Gains Importance

The report also places the $200-billion target within the wider shift towards South-South economic cooperation.

Trade relationships among developing and emerging economies are becoming more important as global trade faces geopolitical tensions, supply-chain disruption and changes in tariff policy.

BRICS offers India another channel through which to diversify markets while retaining strong commercial relationships with the United States, Europe and other major economies.

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, writing in the report, described the $200-billion export objective as ambitious but achievable if India identifies new demand, reduces barriers, strengthens value-added exports and builds stronger business-to-business relationships across BRICS economies.

The emphasis on value-added exports is important. Increasing shipments of manufactured goods, pharmaceuticals, electronics, machinery and technology-based services would have a different economic impact from simply increasing commodity trade.

It would support domestic manufacturing, employment, investment and technology development.

Digital Payments and Settlement Systems Could Help

Trade expansion will also depend on how easily companies can conduct transactions across the grouping.

BRICS members have been discussing cooperation in areas including finance, digital economy, customs, investment, green development and supply chains.

For Indian exporters, improvements in trade finance, digital payments, customs procedures and settlement arrangements could reduce transaction costs and make smaller companies more willing to enter unfamiliar markets.

This is particularly relevant to MSMEs, which often face greater difficulty managing payment risk, foreign exchange costs, logistics and regulatory requirements than large corporations.

A more predictable commercial framework across BRICS could therefore widen participation beyond India’s largest exporters.

India’s Manufacturing Growth Creates the Base

The export ambition rests partly on India’s wider economic expansion.

ASSOCHAM notes that India averaged growth of more than 7 per cent during the five financial years from 2021 to 2026, while the economy expanded 7.8 per cent in the first quarter of the current financial year.

Continued growth in manufacturing capacity would give Indian exporters greater ability to serve large overseas markets without creating shortages at home.

But production capacity alone will not guarantee $200 billion in exports.

Indian companies will have to meet local standards, develop distribution networks, improve after-sales support and understand the commercial requirements of individual BRICS markets.

The bloc is economically diverse. Selling engineering equipment in Russia, pharmaceuticals in Brazil, food products in the Gulf or automobiles in South Africa involves very different market conditions.

The $200-billion opportunity therefore depends on country-specific strategies rather than a single BRICS export policy.

From Political Grouping to Commercial Market

BRICS began primarily as a platform connecting major emerging economies. Its expansion has created a much larger economic geography.

For India, that presents an opportunity to turn political engagement into deeper commercial integration.

The target of $200 billion in exports by 2030 would require exports to BRICS economies to more than double from their FY2025-26 level. That is a demanding expansion, but the size of the markets involved gives Indian industry substantial room to grow.

The larger task is to move from simply increasing trade volumes towards building stronger positions in manufacturing, technology, services and cross-border value chains.

If Indian companies can do that, BRICS could become not only an important diplomatic platform for New Delhi, but one of the principal markets supporting India’s next phase of export growth.

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Source: ASSOCHAM Global Strategy and Research Centre, The Rise of BRICS Nations: An Opportunity to Scale Indian Exports to USD 200 Billion to BRICS by 2030. ASSOCHAM’s June assessment placed FY2025-26 exports to BRICS at about $96 billion and total India-BRICS trade at $417 billion.

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