Pathways of cooperation: Russia-India cargo routes

Trade between Russia and India has been steadily on the rise. Data from India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry at the end of Indian financial year 2023/2024 (ended 31 March, 2024) showed that exports of Indian goods to Russia had grown by more than 30%. Meanwhile, a third of the cargoes that passed through Murmansk Commercial Seaport in the first seven months of 2023 were headed for India. In this article, we look at what Indian entrepreneurs should know about the existing logistical options.

3 ways to deliver a cargo

Cargoes travelling between India and Russia are mainly transported by sea or by air. Since 2022, there’s been the option to combine sea and land routes, but logisticians say this remains a rare choice.

Sea routes

According to transport and logistics company representatives, the most widely used India-Russia container route is via the Suez Canal, with goods subsequently unloaded in Novorossiysk or St Petersburg. This option has the highest number of operators and the lowest prices.

Specialists at Russia’s Far Eastern Shipping Company (FESCO) explain that the main advantage of the Novorossiysk route is the shorter transit time, which allows for more frequent dispatches. “A vessel takes on average 17 days to travel from Mundra to Novorossiysk. If the cargo goes from India to Novorossiysk via the transshipment port where the container is transferred from one vessel to another, delivery time increases by about 10 days.”

FESCO specialists note that the second option via the Suez Canal to St Petersburg takes around 23 days. Zakhudalin cautions that the popularity of this classic route results in a dire shortage of available space on cargo vessels.

Russia and India are linked by another sea route: the eastern route. This route takes cargoes from India to ports in the Russian Far East from where they are delivered by rail to the European part of the country. Mikhail Zvyagintsev, founder of logistics company TEK Operator, says that delivery by this route is more expensive and the transit time is longer, so the eastern route is only used when other routes are problematic.

“There is currently not a single service offering a direct line along this route. Cargoes go via transshipment ports in China or the South Asian countries, and the estimated delivery time is approximately 28 days,” FESCO representatives explain. “With the help of our partner shipping lines, we deliver cargoes from India to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam or to Shanghai in China. We then transfer the containers to our own vessels and forward them to Vladivostok with our regular sea services in the Far East.”

North–South Corridor

Another option for cargo delivery from India to Russia is the International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC). This has been developed over two decades and is intended to connect Russia to India, the Persian Gulf countries, and the South Asian countries via Iran. In the case of exports from India, cargoes go via the Persian Gulf to Iran and are then transported by rail or road across the country to the Caspian Sea, where they are loaded onto a vessel headed for one of Russia’s Caspian Sea ports.

International North–South Transport Corridor

The INSTC offers three routes from Russia:  

• The Eastern Corridor is a direct rail connection via Russia-Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran, linking to Iran’s rail network. 
• The Western Corridor is a direct rail connection via Russia-Azerbaijan-Iran with subsequent cargo transfer to road transport for transfer across Iran. 
• The Trans-Caspian Route uses Russian ports such as Astrakhan, Olya, and Makhachkala, and Iran’s Caspian Sea ports.

Source: Russian Railways (RZD), Valdai Club

Logistics companies see the INSTC as the most complex and elaborate of the routes connecting India and Russia. Its main problems, according to the experts, are:

• Limited choice of sea lines from India to Iran.
• Overbooking. Mikhail Zvyagintsev suggests transportation should be booked 2–3 weeks in advance.
• Cargo safety during transfers or inspections. SLC’s Zakhudalin believes it is unlikely that goods will be stolen, but they can be easily damaged. The main issue is the number of operations required: cargoes must be loaded and unloaded at least twice. For comparison: the India–Novorossiysk route only requires goods to be loaded onto a vessel once, before being transferred to road transport.

Zvyagintsev concludes: “So far, sending goods from India to Russia via Iran is seen as a backup option in case the main sea route via the Suez Canal stops functioning.”

From India via the Arctic

Russia and India have been discussing the creation of yet another coastal route — the Northern Sea Route (NSR). This will reduce the time needed to transport cargo between Chennai and Vladivostok significantly.

Russia is developing this Arctic thoroughfare by modernising ports and adding to its icebreaker fleet. The NSR is almost half the distance of other sea routes from Europe to the Far East (e.g. the distance from St Petersburg to Vladivostok via the Suez Canal is 23,200 kilometres, while via the NSR, it’s 14,300 kilometres). In 2023, the Northern Sea Route transported a record-breaking 36 million tonnes of cargo. The goal for 2035 is 220 million tonnes.

Using the Northern Sea Route 

The Northern Sea Route (NSR) is the shortest coastal route between Western Eurasia and the Asia-Pacific region.

Source: Rosatom, mass media publications 

The main drawback of the Northern Sea Route is the harsh climate. Summer temperatures in the Laptev Sea don’t rise above 1 degree Celsius, which shortens the navigation period. The NSR could only function all the year round if the route were provided with nuclear icebreakers, which would increase transportation costs. So far, there are no regular services or established prices for the NSR.

“The Northern Sea Route is in its infancy and there are still plenty of difficulties to be overcome, but its importance will grow with time, especially given the influence of climate change,” Zakhudalin says.

Air routes

Direct and connecting flights from India to Russia are currently operated by Russian airline Aeroflot, and also by Oman Air, Emirates, Air Arabia, Fly Dubai, Turkish Airlines, Mahan Air, Uzbekistan Airways, and others. With a direct flight, a shipment will reach its recipient in Russia within 24 to 48 hours. According to Aleksey Zakhudalin, head of logistics at Service Logistic Company (SLC), a connecting flight and cargo transfer (which normally takes place in the UAE, Sri Lanka, Oman, Turkey, Iran, or Uzbekistan) increase this time frame by 48 to 72 hours.

New Delhi Airport is usually used when shipping from northern India, while Mumbai Airport is used from the west of the country. Zakhudalin highlights that Indian cargo shippers may only send cargoes from the airport designated when they register. One other thing he considers particular to air transportation between India and Russia is that the distance between the place of dispatch and the airport can exceed a thousand kilometres, which must be taken into account when dealing with perishable goods, for example.

The cost of air cargo delivery from New Delhi and Mumbai starts at $2.50. When choosing a delivery company, consider India Post: its private service fees are the lowest.

Conclusions

According to Zakhudalin, there are three popular sea cargo delivery options between India and Russia. First, there is the route from large Indian ports, such as Nhava Sheva or Mundra, across the Arabian and Red Seas, passing through the Egyptian port of Damietta in the Nile delta and eventually ending up in St Petersburg. Secondly, we have the route that starts at the Indian port of Cochin, passes through Jebel Ali in the UAE, and also terminates in St Petersburg. The same two routes are used to deliver cargoes to Novorossiysk. As for the Russian Far East route, the usual ports of departure are Nhava Sheva, Mundra, or Chennai, with Vladivostok Sea Fishing Port and Vladivostok Commercial Port being the usual points of arrival.

Nevertheless, Zakhudalin cautions that despite the popularity of sea routes to St Petersburg and Novorossiysk, it would be erroneous to see them as the only alternatives or assume that they carry the majority of goods. The downside of these options being so popular is the lack of cargo carrying capacity. Therefore, a major part of Indian cargoes headed for the European part of Russia passes through the ports of Vladivostok.