While petroleum crude made up about 7 percent of all the imports from Russia to India in FY21, the share was about 80 percent in FY25. Image: Amit Dave / Reuters
Even as the US uses India’s strategic ties with Russia as an excuse to levy unspecified additional tariffs on imports from the country, New Delhi has been shifting away from Moscow for its defence needs. Its reliance on cheap Russian crude, however, remains.
India imported crude worth $50 billion from Russia in FY25—it accounted for more than a third of India’s overall crude imports that year—compared to less than $400 million in FY21. Russia’s share in India’s petroleum purchases was just 1.4 percent before the war in Ukraine began. Though Russia has carved out a larger slice in India’s crude imports, New Delhi also imports about half of all its crude from OPEC countries.
Also Read: Tariff trouble: Disruption in numbers – part 2
The surge in Russia’s share in India’s overall crude imports have been partially driven by OPEC production cuts and cheap prices. Low prices of Russian crude have quickly made it one of the most significant items that India is now purchasing from Russia. While petroleum crude made up about 7 percent of all imports from Russia in FY21, the share was about 80 percent in FY25.
Despite the punitive tariffs that US has levied on imports from India, officially India has not changed its stance on Russian crude imports so far. However, at an event in July Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri spoke about India’s growing diversification to meet its energy needs.
