The Reserve Bank of India has asked the country’s major state-owned refiners to press Persian Gulf suppliers to accept at least 10 per cent of oil payments in rupees in the next financial year, three executives at the processors said.
The move is aimed at promoting the Indian currency in international trade and cutting dependence on dollars, said the executives, who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter. The government is worried that India’s booming demand for energy will put downward pressure on the rupee, and also wants to leverage the growth in consumption to its own advantage, they said.
