Auto industry asks govt for rupee trade with African nations

The industry has also asked for negotiating free trade agreements (FTAs) with more Latin American countries like Chile, Peru and Colombia to boost exports from the country. “We have approached Ministry of Commerce for rupee trade with African countries as we are facing a challenge in dollar trade in these big export markets like Algeria and Nigeria,” Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), Deputy Director General Sugato Sen told reporters here. 

These countries cannot make payments in dollars and that is impacting the trade with these nations, he added. “So we have asked the Commerce Ministry to negotiate rupee trade with these countries. It is a long term bilateral thing and these countries also need to study it,” Sen said. Of the total automobile exports of around $8.86 billion in 2015-16, Africa alone accounted for 30-35 per cent of the total overseas shipments in value terms.