India is in talks with about a dozen smaller countries as the government seeks to expand bilateral trades through bespoke rupee accounts and internationalise indigenous payment modes. The object is to bypass the dollar-denominated trades through baby steps and creating an alternative payment ecosystem other than the global SWIFT platform.
They include African countries such as Djibouti, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Ethiopia and Sudan, said people familiar with the matter.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), finance ministry and National Payment Corp. of India (NPCI) did not comment on the matter. The Indian Economic Trade Organization (IETO) and NPCI are primarily engaged in such cross-border dialogue before it reaches the regulators. For example, IETO held a meeting of all Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) ambassadors in Hyderabad last week. Senior ministry of external affairs and Telangana government officials were present. Madagascar also participated.
Read more at: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/foreign-trade/india-smaller-nations-talk-trade-via-rupee-accounts/articleshow/95189419.cms