reserve Bank of India ,reserve Bank of India) allowed on Monday HDFC Bank Limited And Canara Bank Limited According to media reports, to open a special “Vostro Account” with Russia for trade in rupees.

Vostro accounts are accounts that one bank maintains on behalf of another, often foreign bank, and are an important part of correspondent banking.

The move to open special Vostro accounts has cleared the decks for India-Russia trade to settle payments in rupees, thereby enabling cross-border transactions in Indian currency.

Earlier, the government had opened nine special vostro accounts with two Indian banks after permission from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to facilitate foreign trade in Indian rupees. sberbank And VTB The banks—Russia’s largest and second largest, respectively—were the first foreign lenders to receive the approval after the RBI announced guidelines for overseas business in rupees in July. Another Russian bank Gazprom, which does not have a bank in India, has also opened this account with Kolkata based UCO Bank,

“Nine accounts have been opened. One in UCO Bank, one in SBER, one in VTB and six in IndusInd Bank, These are six different Russian banks.” Business Releasing the trade figures, Secretary Sunil Barthwal had said.

The RBI has allowed these special Vostro accounts to invest surplus balance in Government of India securities to help popularize the new regime.

(with inputs from agencies)