On August 8, the Indian government announced that banks from 22 partner countries, including Russia and the United Kingdom, had been granted permission to open "vostro" accounts in India. This move aims to boost rupee trade by making international banking services available to clients with global banking needs.

A "vostro" account is a local currency account held by domestic banks for foreign banks. It acts as a mechanism for domestic banks to meet their clients' international banking needs.

This is a type of correspondent banking in which a bank (or intermediary) handles wire transfers, commercial transactions, deposit acceptance, and documentation collection on behalf of another bank.

This provision provides local banks with increased access to international financial markets and the ability to serve global clients without requiring a physical presence in other countries.

India has actively urged its trading partners to facilitate trade in the rupee in order to reduce the costs associated with currency conversion during transactions.

Several other countries, including Bangladesh, Russia, Germany, Israel, Uganda, Sri Lanka, the United Kingdom, Singapore, and New Zealand, have opened 'vostro' accounts to conduct rupee-denominated trade.