NEW DELHI - India's central bank has given approval to banks to open 12 special "vostro accounts" for trade in rupees with trading partners, its Executive Director Deepak Kumar said on Friday.

Vostro accounts are held by a bank on behalf of another, often foreign bank, and are a key part of correspondent banking.

(Reporting by Nikunj Ohri in New Delhi, writing by Shivam Patel, Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)