India's Russian oil imports see 9-month high

By Ahmad Adil

NEW DELHI (AA) – India’s oil imports from Russia have increased to a nine-month high in April this year, indicating New Delhi's dependence on cheaper energy imports from Moscow.

The Indian refiners imported a total of 1.96 million barrels per day (bpd) of Russian crude oil in April, the “highest since July of last year, and nearly 19% higher than volumes imported in March," daily The Indian Express reported, citing data from Kpler analytical agency.

“Russia accounted for 40.3% of the total 4.86 million bpd of crude oil imported into India in April. This is the first instance in seven months of Moscow having a share of over 40% in New Delhi’s oil imports. Russia’s share had declined to around 33% in the past four months from the peak level of nearly 46% seen in May 2023,” the report added.

Of late, India’s dependence on energy and defense on the Russian market has witnessed an increase.

Russian Ambassador to India Denis Alipov had earlier said that Russian oil and petroleum product exports to India surged two-fold to $45 billion and $4.5 billion, respectively, in 2023.

India saved an estimated $7.9 billion in oil imports in the 11 months of 2023-24 financial year ended March 31, by purchasing Russian crude at cheaper rates, India based ICRA Research said this week.

In the defense sector, over the years, cooperation in the military technical sphere “has evolved from a purely buyer-seller relationship to joint research, design development and production of state-of-the-art military platforms,” according to the Indian government.

India has also purchased the S-400 air defense system from Russia, the delivery of which has already started.​​​​​​​