India pays first crude oil payment to UAE in rupees

India and the United Arab Emirates made their first-ever historic crude oil payment in local currency, making payment in rupees for purchase of a million barrels of oil from the Middle Eastern nation, the Indian government said on Monday.

The transactions were made between Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) under the newly implemented Local Currency Settlement (LCS) system.

It is worth mentioning that India in July signed an agreement with the UAE allowing it to settle trade in rupees instead of dollars, a move towards boosting India’s efforts to cut transaction costs by eliminating dollar conversions.