INDIA STEPS UP COUNTERTRADE DEALS
India is searching for non-communist
countertrade partners to help it cut its trade deficit and
conserve foreign exchange.
    Wheat, tobacco, tea, coffee, jute, engineering and
electronic goods, as well as minerals including iron ore, are
all on offer in return for crude oil, petroleum products,
chemicals, steel and machinery, trade sources told Reuters.
    Most of the impetus behind countertrade, which began in
1984, comes from two state trading firms -- the State Trading
Corp (STC) and the Minerals and Metals Trading Corp (MMTC).
    "The two state trading corporations are free to use their
buying power in respect to bulk commodities to promote Indian
exports," a commerce ministry spokeswoman said, adding that
private firms are excluded from countertrading.
    One trade source said India has targetted countries that
depend on an Indian domestic market recently opened to foreign
imports. But countertrade deals still make up only a small part
of India's total trading and are likely to account for less
than eight pct of the estimated 18.53 billion dlrs in trade
during the nine months ended December, the sources said.
    Countertrade accounted for just five pct of India's 25.65
billion dlrs in trade during fiscal 1985/86 ended March,
against almost nothing in 1984/85, official figures show.
    However, the figures exclude exchanges with the Eastern
Bloc paid in non-convertible Indian rupees, the sources said.
    Total trade with the Soviet Union, involving swaps of
agricultural produce and textiles for Soviet arms and crude
oil, is estimated at 3.04 billion dlrs in fiscal 1986/87.
 Reuter
