Payment infrastructure between India and Russia has accelerated sharply, with more than 90 per cent of Russia-to-India payments handled through Sber now being processed in less than 10 minutes, according to the Russian bank’s India operations.
Sber says more than one-third of such payments are being completed within about 60 seconds, while transactions travelling in the opposite direction, from India to Russia, have also been reduced from several days in the past to only a few minutes.
The improvement represents a significant change in the financial infrastructure supporting India-Russia trade, particularly as companies in both countries seek payment mechanisms that can operate efficiently in Indian rupees and Russian rubles.
Sber presented the latest figures during INNOPROM India 2026 in New Delhi, where Indian and Russian companies met from September 9 to 11 to discuss industrial cooperation, manufacturing, technology and investment.
Payments That Once Took Days Now Take Minutes
Sber’s India branch has been building a dedicated settlement infrastructure for trade between the two countries as bilateral commerce has expanded rapidly.
According to Sber First Deputy Chairman Alexander Vedyakhin, payment difficulties that were an important issue in India-Russia trade only a few years ago have been substantially reduced through the development of new banking channels.
Sber stated on September 11 that payments handled through its infrastructure are now overwhelmingly completed within minutes and that settlements are conducted in the national currencies of the two countries.
A separate Sber statement issued on September 1 provides a clearer breakdown of the improvement. The bank said that more than 90 per cent of payments from Russia to India are completed in less than 10 minutes, compared with around 60 per cent a year earlier. More than one-third are now processed within 60 seconds.
The improvement has also taken place in the opposite direction. Sber said an India-to-Russia transaction that could previously take several days was subsequently reduced to hours and can now be completed within minutes.
Rupee-Ruble Infrastructure Becomes More Important
The payment system is particularly relevant because Sber’s Indian banking infrastructure allows businesses to transact using Indian rupees and Russian rubles.
Sber’s own customer documentation confirms that outward payments from its Indian branch to Russia can be made in INR and RUB, giving businesses a direct mechanism for conducting bilateral transactions in national currencies.
This does not mean that all India-Russia trade has moved away from other currencies, nor do Sber’s figures represent the complete Indian banking system. They relate specifically to payments processed through the bank’s infrastructure.
Their significance lies instead in demonstrating that a functioning commercial settlement route now exists for businesses that want to conduct trade without requiring every transaction to pass through a third-country currency and banking chain.
For importers and exporters, faster settlement can reduce the period during which payments remain in transit, improve working-capital management and make it easier to coordinate shipments with actual receipt of funds.
Sber Says It Handles a Major Share of Indian Exports to Russia
Sber has steadily expanded its role in bilateral trade infrastructure.
The bank says it currently serves more than 60 per cent of India’s exports to Russia through its financial and trade-support services. Sber operates offices in Delhi and Mumbai and also maintains an information-technology hub in Bengaluru.
Alongside conventional payment services, the bank provides rupee-based transaction facilities, supplier identification and assistance with commercial transactions between Indian and Russian companies.
Sber has also said payments generated through successful transactions involving small and medium enterprises during the first eight months of 2026 had already exceeded the total recorded during the whole of 2025.
This suggests that the India-Russia economic relationship is gradually extending beyond the largest energy, commodity and defence transactions towards a broader network of smaller industrial and commercial deals.
India-Russia Trade Is Trying to Become More Balanced
Payment infrastructure is only one part of the wider challenge facing India-Russia economic relations.
The two countries have set a target of reaching $100 billion in bilateral trade and $50 billion in two-way investment by 2030. Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal reiterated those targets during INNOPROM India on September 10.
The current relationship, however, remains heavily influenced by India’s large imports from Russia, particularly in energy and other commodities. Both governments have therefore placed greater emphasis on increasing Indian exports and widening cooperation into manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, machinery, electronics, agriculture and other sectors.
Sber has argued that technology and industrial goods could play an important role in reducing this imbalance.
The bank says the composition of Indian exports to Russia is already beginning to change. Shipments of machinery, electronics, industrial equipment, automotive components and batteries have been increasing, while Sber sees considerable untapped potential for further Indian exports.
Faster Payments Could Help Smaller Exporters
This is where faster settlement infrastructure may have its greatest practical impact.
Large corporations can usually manage complex international settlement arrangements through multiple banks and financial centres. Smaller manufacturers and exporters face greater difficulties when payments take several days, involve additional intermediaries or create uncertainty over exchange and settlement.
A system capable of completing transactions within minutes reduces one of those barriers.
Sber has also developed services aimed specifically at connecting Russian buyers with Indian suppliers. The bank says its business-development service searches for Indian companies according to the requirements of Russian customers, while future plans include using artificial-intelligence agents to automate parts of that process.
Such services could become increasingly relevant if India succeeds in expanding exports of engineering goods, machinery, electronics, pharmaceuticals and industrial products to the Russian market.
Local-Currency Trade Is Becoming Part of a Wider BRICS Discussion
The development also fits into a broader discussion about improving payment connectivity between emerging economies.
During the BRICS Summit period in New Delhi, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal called for member and partner countries to link payment systems and encourage trade in national currencies, while also improving trade facilitation and reducing regulatory barriers.
The India-Russia mechanism therefore provides one example of what such arrangements can look like at the commercial level.
It should not be interpreted as evidence of the creation of a single BRICS currency or a unified alternative international payment system. Instead, it demonstrates a more practical approach in which individual countries build banking connections that allow businesses to settle bilateral transactions more directly.
INNOPROM Gives Financial Infrastructure an Industrial Role
The payment announcement came during the first INNOPROM India, held in New Delhi from September 9 to 11.
The Government of India described the exhibition as a platform for strengthening India-Russia cooperation in manufacturing, technology and investment. Indian and Russian companies participated across sectors including engineering, aviation, energy, digital technologies and advanced manufacturing.
The importance of efficient payments becomes greater as the relationship moves beyond commodity trade towards joint manufacturing and industrial partnerships. Machinery, components and intermediate goods often move repeatedly between suppliers and manufacturers, making predictable financial settlement an important part of the supply chain.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin subsequently welcomed the first INNOPROM India during their meeting on September 11 and highlighted the exhibition’s role in expanding trade and industrial cooperation.
From Payment Bottleneck to Trade Infrastructure
India-Russia trade expanded much faster than the financial infrastructure supporting it after 2022, creating difficulties for companies trying to settle transactions efficiently.
Sber’s latest figures indicate that at least one major banking channel has moved considerably beyond that stage. Payments that once required days can now be completed in minutes, while rupee and ruble settlement infrastructure has become part of the ordinary services available to businesses using the bank.
The figures remain Sber’s own operational data and should not be treated as RBI statistics covering all India-Russia transactions. Even with that qualification, the improvement is significant because payment speed, currency access and banking connectivity are essential if bilateral trade is to expand into a larger and more diversified commercial relationship.
As India and Russia pursue their $100-billion trade target for 2030, the ability to move money as efficiently as goods may become one of the less visible but increasingly important foundations of that growth.
Official Sources:
Sberbank Branch in India — Alexander Vedyakhin: Technology is the Key Direction That Will Solve the Trade Imbalance Between India and Russia, 11 September 2026
Sberbank Branch in India — India-Russia Payment Infrastructure and Sber India Expansion Update, 1 September 2026
Sberbank Branch in India — INNOPROM India 2026 Financial and Trade Services
Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Commerce & Industry — India-Russia Economic and Industrial Partnership, 10 September 2026
Press Information Bureau — INNOPROM India 2026
Prime Minister’s Office / PIB — Modi-Putin Meeting on the Sidelines of the 18th BRICS Summit, 11 September 2026
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