This article covers trade and economic links between India and Maldives: the long-standing trade agreement on essential commodities, annual trade figures, the goods traded, banking and financial support, currency swap arrangements and digital payments. It is based on the MEA bilateral brief of June 2026, and all figures are as given in that brief.

The 1981 trade agreement

India and Maldives signed a trade agreement in 1981, which provides for the export of essential commodities from India. According to the MEA brief of June 2026, in April 2025, at the request of the Government of Maldives, the Government of India allowed the export of certain quantities of essential commodities for the year 2025-26 under this agreement, with the quota for each item revised upwards.

The brief states that the approved quantities are the highest since the arrangement came into effect in 1981.

Trade over time

The brief records that bilateral trade crossed the USD 300 million mark for the first time in 2021 and the USD 500 million mark in 2022. It attributes this growth to the launch of a cargo vessel service between the two countries in September 2020 and to the start of work on various Line of Credit projects from February 2021.

The brief gives the following figures for calendar years (January to December), in US$ million, with the Maldives Customs Service as the source. Each line shows India's exports to Maldives, India's imports from Maldives and total trade.

  • 2013: exports 154.00, imports 12.30, total 166.30
  • 2014: exports 170.60, imports 2.90, total 173.50
  • 2015: exports 225.82, imports 3.00, total 228.82
  • 2016: exports 274.55, imports 1.55, total 276.10
  • 2017: exports 282.04, imports 4.12, total 286.16
  • 2018: exports 286.13, imports 3.01, total 288.14
  • 2019: exports 290.27, imports 3.42, total 293.69
  • 2020: exports 241.90, imports 3.33, total 245.23
  • 2021: exports 317.35, imports 5.94, total 323.29
  • 2022: exports 495.40, imports 6.42, total 501.82
  • 2023: exports 543.83, imports 5.14, total 548.97
  • 2024: exports 513.60, imports 4.18, total 517.78
  • 2025: exports 553.30, imports 4.58, total 557.88

What is traded

According to the brief, Indian imports from Maldives consist primarily of scrap metals. Indian exports to Maldives include engineering and industrial products such as drugs and pharmaceuticals, radar apparatus, rock boulders, aggregates and cement, and agricultural produce such as rice, spices, fruits, vegetables and poultry produce.

The brief states that efforts are being made to tap the potential of seafood exports from Maldives to India. In Aug 2022, during President Ibrahim Solih's visit to India, the facilitation of duty free tuna exports to India from Maldives was announced.

Financial assistance and banking

During President Solih's State Visit to India in Dec 2018, India announced a financial assistance package of USD 1.4 bn. It included USD 50 mn as budgetary support to the Government of Maldives, a subscription by SBI to Government of Maldives T-bills of USD 150 mn, a Currency Swap Agreement for USD 400 mn, and 8 infrastructure projects under the USD 800 mn Line of Credit (LoC).

According to the brief, State Bank of India (SBI) has supported the economic development of Maldives since February 1974 by providing loan assistance for the promotion of island resorts, the export of marine products and business enterprises.

In November 2022, in response to a request from the Government of Maldives amid the economic challenges it faced, India handed over financial assistance of US$ 100 million. This support took the form of a subscription by SBI, Malé, to the Government of Maldives' domestic T-bonds, backed by a sovereign guarantee from India to SBI.

In May 2024 and September 2024, on the special request of the Government of Maldives for budgetary support, SBI Maldives subscribed for one more year to USD 100 mn of Government T-bills. The brief describes this as a zero-cost (interest free) subscription under a unique government-to-government arrangement.

Currency swap arrangements

In December 2022, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) signed a Currency Swap Agreement with the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) under the SAARC Currency Swap Framework. This enables the MMA to make drawals in multiple tranches up to a maximum of USD 200 million from the RBI.

In Oct 2024, the Government of India offered a further USD 400 mn currency swap facility, and the agreement was signed between the two sides.

Digital payments

The brief records that India and Maldives signed an agreement to cooperate in the area of digital technology. In August 2024, during the visit of the External Affairs Minister to Maldives, NIPL (India) and the Maldivian Ministry of Economic Development & Trade signed an agreement to adopt UPI in the Maldives.

In 2025, during the visit of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, an agreement on UPI in Maldives was signed between NPCI International Payment Limited (NIPL) and the Maldives Monetary Authority.

Ministerial contacts on trade

In May 2026, Minister of Foreign Affairs Iruthisham Adam met Minister of Commerce & Industry Shri Piyush Goyal during her visit to India, as noted in the relations article. Minister of Agriculture and Animal Welfare Dr. Maryam Mariya took part in the 4th edition of World Food India from 25-28 September 2025 and met Minister of Food Processing Industries Shri Chirag Paswan to discuss areas of collaboration.

The terms of reference for negotiating a Free Trade Agreement were among the eight agreements signed during the Prime Minister's State Visit of July 2025, which are listed in the relations article of this guide. Infrastructure financed through Indian Lines of Credit and Buyer's Credit is described in the development partnership article, and tourism is covered in the culture and community article.