This article covers trade and investment between India and Argentina: the value of bilateral trade year by year, the main goods each country sells to the other, company investments in both directions, commercial agreements in energy and mining, and the business bodies and events that support commerce. All figures are as of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) bilateral brief of June 2026 and are given for the years the brief states.

Bilateral trade

According to the MEA brief of June 2026, India-Argentina bilateral trade more than doubled in three years from 2019 to 2022, peaking at USD 6.4 billion in 2022. In both 2021 and 2022, India was Argentina's fourth-largest trading partner.

In 2023 trade faced significant challenges. The brief attributes this to a severe drought in Argentina, compounded by the resulting scarcity of foreign exchange, and records that trade settled at USD 3.9 billion that year, a decline of 39%.

The brief states that in 2024, with improved weather conditions and what it calls "a much more stable economy under the new government", trade regained its momentum, rising by 33% to USD 5.2 billion. In 2025 trade grew by 32.5%, with total trade valued at USD 6.91 billion. As of the brief, India is ranked as Argentina's fifth-largest trading partner and export destination.

What is traded

Argentina is described in the brief as one of the primary suppliers of edible oils, especially soybean oil, to India. The main items in each direction are:

  • India's exports to Argentina: petroleum oils, agro chemicals, yarn-fabric-madeups, organic chemicals, bulk drugs and two-wheelers.
  • India's imports from Argentina: vegetable oils (soybean and sunflower), finished leather, cereals, residual chemicals and allied products, and pulses.

Investment in both directions

Several Indian companies have established on-site or remote operations in Argentina, with a total investment of over USD 1.2 billion. The companies the brief names are Mphasis (the most recent), TCS, Mahindra Comviva, Infosys, AEGIS-Essar, Crisil, UPL, Advanta Seeds, Bajaj Motorcycles, TVS, Royal Enfield, Hero Motors, Glenmark, Godrej and Sri Sri Tattva.

Argentina's investment in India stands at approximately USD 120 million. Argentine companies present in India are Globant and OLX in IT services and TECHINT in the engineering sector.

Energy and mining agreements

Several commercial agreements in oil, gas and minerals have been signed between companies and public bodies of the two countries:

  • OVL Ltd and YPF, the Argentine public sector company, signed an agreement to promote cooperation in the oil and gas sector in February 2023.
  • On 15 January 2024 the state-owned KABIL signed an agreement with CAMYEN, a public sector undertaking of the Province of Catamarca, to lease five lithium blocks for exploration and eventual exploitation. The brief describes this as the first ever acquisition of lithium resources abroad.
  • In January 2025 YPF signed an MOU with a consortium of Oil India Limited (OIL), Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) and ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) for exploring cooperation in the energy and mining sector.

Mining delegations

Indian official delegations have travelled to Argentina to explore partnerships in mining, particularly in lithium. A delegation led by Dr. VK Saraswat, Member, NITI Aayog, visited Buenos Aires in October 2019, and a delegation led by Alok Tandon, Secretary Mines, visited in August-September 2021. The two delegations went respectively to the Provinces of Jujuy and Catamarca.

An official and business delegation led by VL Kantha Rao, Secretary, Ministry of Mines, visited Buenos Aires in January 2025 for the 1st Joint Working Group (JWG) meeting on Mineral Resources, and also visited the Province of Catamarca. A 12-member delegation led by Shri. Sandeep Poundrik, Secretary of Steel, visited Argentina on 04-05 September to explore opportunities in the mining sector; the brief gives no year for this visit. The delegation included the Chairman and Managing Director of National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC), the Chairman of SAIL (Steel Authority of India Limited) and the Director (Commercial) of Manganese Ore India Limited.

Trade bodies and business events

After an interregnum of 29 years, the third meeting of the Joint Trade Committee (JTC) took place on 20 October 2020 via video conference.

A bilateral business chamber, the India-Argentina Business Council (IABC), was formally launched on 14 October 2020 by the then Minister of Productive Development Matias Kulfas and the Indian Ambassador. The Council is a non-profit organisation of leading industries, exporters and importers in Argentina and, as of the brief, has over 30 member companies. IABC and the Indian Embassy organised the first Business Forum on 25 March 2021.

The Indian Embassy hosted a business seminar on 26 August 2022 during EAM's visit to Buenos Aires, attended by more than 60 leading Argentine and Indian companies. With IABC, it organised the India-Argentina Business Summit-2026 (IABS) on 17 March 2026, which the brief says drew CEOs of large businesses, politicians, senior government officials, think tanks, media and influencers. On 11 December the Embassy organised a Pre-Summit event for the AI-Impact Summit with the Municipality of Escobar and Instituto de Innovación Digital + CiudadanIA, centred on collaborative action for responsible AI and global innovation.

Trade promotion

The brief records regular exchanges of visits by government officials and business people, including participation in focused events by trade and export promotion agencies, sector delegations, exhibitions, buyer-seller meets (BSM) and B2B meetings.

Recent activities listed in the brief include:

  • Participation of Indian companies, coordinated by FICCI, in the 2023 edition of ExpoMedical, which the brief calls the largest medical devices exhibition in the LAC region.
  • A 22-member delegation of the Solvent Extractors Association (SEA) of India in Argentina from 27 March to 02 April 2023, which took part in the International Sunflower Seed and Oil Conference in Buenos Aires on 29-30 March.
  • A buyer-seller meet for 15 Indian companies in basic chemicals, cosmetics and dyes, coordinated by CHEMEXCIL, on 2 October 2023. CHMEXCIL, as the brief spells it here, also signed an MOU for cooperation with its Argentine counterpart CAPQ.
  • A high-level delegation from the Uttar Pradesh State Government led by Deputy Chief Minister Shri Brajesh Pathak and Minister of Fisheries Dr Sanjay Kumar Nishad, which visited Buenos Aires on 13-15 December 2022, for which the mission organised a roadshow.