Ministry of external affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal later said
India bases its oil purchases on global market offerings to meet its energy demand.
Sources told CNBC-TV18 that India followed all international protocols while sourcing oil from Russia.Apart from India, China is the other top buyer of Russian crude oil.
Nearly 2 mbpd of 4.5 million barrels per day (mbpd) Russian oil exports are to India. Russia produces 9.5 mbpd or nearly 10% of the global oil demand, sources said.Brent had spiked to $137 in March 2022 on the fear of Russian oil going off market, after its war with Ukraine, resulted in global sanctions on the country.
However, India increased its Russian oil imports at the time, which helped stabilise the prices and kept oil flowing. Russian crude oil has not been sanctioned.
A day prior to the tariffs going into effect, the Centre said India and the US have been engaged in negotiations over the last few months to conclude a fair, balanced and mutually-beneficial bilateral trade agreement. The India and US teams had concluded the fifth round of talks on the agreement a week prior in Washington.
On August 1 (US time), Trump told reports that he heard India is no longer going to buy oil from Russia, calling it a “good step”, but added he wasn’t sure of the development.
His comments came in after in a post on Truth Social, he said, “I don’t care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care. We have done very little business with India, their Tariffs are too high, among the highest in the World. Likewise, Russia and the USA do almost no business together. Let’s keep it that way, and tell Medvedev, the failed former President of Russia, who thinks he’s still President, to watch his words. He’s entering very dangerous territory!”
Also Read: India’s crude oil imports from US to increase by over 150% in FY26: Sources
