After US relief, India works to pay for Iran oil in rupees
By Indrani Bagchi
NEW DELHI: With the US granting a 180-day exemption on Iranian oil sanctions to India ahead of the restrictions kicking in from Monday, India and Iran are finalising details of a mechanism that will allow New Delhi to pay entirely in Indian currency, at a bank in India.
India will revive a previous arrangement of making payments in an account in UCO Bank, which does not have international exposure and is therefore not vulnerable to sanctions. However, in the earlier instance, the oil payments were divided — 45% in rupees deposited in UCO Bank, while 55% was paid in Euros. This time, Iran will take the entire amount in rupees. Tehran is expected to use these funds to import items from India.
Credit: timesofindia.indiatimes.com