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.
  

