Economic and Commercial Brief

Economic and Commercial Brief

Over the years, India’s bilateral trade with Azerbaijan increased substantially from around US$ 50 million in 2005 to a peak of US$ 1.882 billion in 2022. In subsequent years the bilateral trade declined as a result of reduced import of crude-oil by Indian refiners from Azerbaijan. In 2025, the bilateral trade was US$ 401 million, with India’s exports to Azerbaijan at US$ 226 million and India’s imports from Azerbaijan at US$ 175 million (comprising mostly of crude-oil).

ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) has invested more than US$ 1.2 billion in acquiring stakes in the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) oil and gas fields and the associated Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipe line. On 29 Nov 2024, OVL completed acquisition of additional 0.615 percent participating interest (PI) in ACG oil and gas field from Equinor at an investment of USD 60 million. The deal also included acquisition of 0.737 percent shares of Equinor in BTC pipeline. The buyout from Equinor raised OVL’s stake in ACG oil and gas field to 2.925 percent and in BTC pipeline to 3.097 percent.
There is a direct flight connectivity between Delhi and Baku, with 14 flights a week – 7 operated by Indigo (currently suspended) and 7 by Azerbaijan Airlines. Azerbaijan Airlines also operates 7 direct flights a week between Mumbai and Baku. In 2025, Azerbaijan received 166,944 tourists from India, an almost 31.50% decline over the number of tourist arrivals in 2024 (243,589). In 2025, India was the 4th largest source of inbound tourists for Azerbaijan, after Russia, Türkiye and Iran.

BILATERAL TRADE WITH INDIA YEAR-WISE

(In million US$)

Year	Import from India	Export to India	Total Bilateral trade
2020	126.00	456.80	582.80
2021	144.67	594.43	739.10
2022	219.45	1,662.62	1,882.07
2023	200.77	1234.73	1435.50
2024	223.93	734.42	958.35
2025	225.68	174.94	400.62

(Source: The State Statistical Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan)

TOP 10 ITEMS OF IMPORTS FROM INDIA IN 2025

S. No.	Commodity	6-digit HS code	In million US$
1.	Rice	100630	38.82
2.	Drugs	300490	18.70
3.	Smartphones	851713	8.53
4.	Stones for monuments and building (granite)	680223	6.51
5.	Unglazed ceramic flags and paving	690721	5.50
6.	Other black tea	090240	5.27
7.	Industrial transformers	850421	5.19
8.	Other automatic circuit breakers	853529	4.97
9.	Household washing machines	845011	4.40
10.	Meat of large horned livestock	020230	4.28

(Source: The State Statistical Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan

TOP ITEMS OF EXPORT TO INDIA IN 2025

S. No.	Commodity	6-digit HS Code	In million US$
1.	Crude oil	270900	167.31
2.	Urea, whether or not in aqueous solution	310210	4.68
3.	Iodine	280120	1.57
4.	Jet fuel	271051	0.54
5.	Static converters	850440	0.26
6.	Cattle skins	410411	0.22