Nigeria-India trade volume hits $17b – Envoy

India’s Acting High Commissioner to Nigeria, Kaisar Alam, on Sunday said trade volume between Nigeria and India stood at $17 billion between April 2013 to March 2014.

Alam told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that India imported $14 billion worth of goods from Nigeria during the period while Nigeria imported $3 billion worth of goods from India in the same period.

Alam explained that India was currently the largest importer of Nigeria’s crude oil, importing $12 billion worth of the product in the year under review.

“India imported $14 billion worth of goods from Nigeria from April 2013 to March 2014, including $12 billion worth of crude oil,’’ he said.

He also explained that with the reduction of United States’ import of Nigeria’s crude oil, India was currently Nigeria’s largest trading partner.

He said a large number of Indian companies and businesses have footprints in Nigeria and have made substantial investments in the country.

The envoy explained that the increasing trade relations between the two countries would boost trade volume in the 2014-2015 fiscal year.

He said that the relations between the two countries had always been friendly, noting that “Nigeria is a very important country to India.”

He expressed the optimism that the bilateral relations between the two countries would improve significantly in the current year.