The central government of India is planning to extend the realisation of export in rupee for more foreign nations, replacing the dollar or pound, Director General of Foreign Trade Anup Kumar Pujari said Friday.

At present, Iran, which is faced with US sanctions, happens to be the only country where Indian export is realised in rupee.

Speaking at a business talk in Kolkata, Pujara said there is a growing realisation in the Union government that India must try strengthening its own currency in the global economy, and allowing export realisation in rupee was an important step in that direction.

"Talks are on with the RBI for devising some appropriate mechanism so that the export realisation in rupee term can be extended for more countries, barring our immediate neighbours with whom we share land customs stations," the DGFT said. "Once this is done, export realisation in rupee will also be eligible to get export benefits."

When asked how this could be possible since the Indian rupee is not convertible on the capital account, Pujari said it would not be a problem. "Work is in progress in this regard and an appropriate enabling mechanism will be put in place," he said.

The DGFT explained that extending export realisation in rupee to neighbouring countries such as Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh was not desirable at preset as India's borders with these countries were very porous, making it impossible to keep all exports accounted for.

—ANN/The Statesman