India aims to sign an initial pact with Iran to settle oil trade in rupees

IOC would buy 6 million barrels of Iranian oil, while MRPL would import 3 million barrels

India aims to sign an initial agreement with Iran this month to settle all their oil trade in rupees through UCO Bank, two Indian government sources said.

“We have to do some paper work. It should be signed as early as possible. We are aiming for this month,” one of the sources said. 

India, which got a waiver from the latest tougher US sanctions against Tehran on Monday, used a similar mechanism in the previous round of sanctions but settled only 45 percent of the payments in rupees.

Iran used the funds to import goods from India, a move that had helped boost