India’s imports of Russian oil unlikely to be ‘near-zero’ despite sanctions: Sources
In November, Russia continued to be India’s top crude supplier, with the country importing an average of 1.7 million barrels per day (bpd) of Russian crude this year.
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YORUK ISIK
India’s imports of Russian oil are unlikely to reach “near-zero” despite the US sanctions against Russian oil companies Rosneft and Lukoil kicking in last week, sources said.
Companies are expected to continue to source from the non-sanctioned entities, although in smaller quantities, as the government does not intend to stop companies from doing so.
“Indian refiners are free to purchase from any source. There is no government restriction on Russian purchases as long as sanctions are not been breached. So, Russian oil imports will decline but not be anywhere near zero as transactions with non-sanctioned entities will continue,” the source said
Trump tariff
US President Donald Trump, who imposed 50 per cent additional tariffs on India goods (which included 25 per cent reciprocal tariffs and a 25 per cent penalty for purchase of Russian oil), has been repeatedly saying that India was on its way to bring down its Russian oil imports to “near-zero”.
India is negotiating a bilateral trade agreement (BTA) with the US, the first tranche of which is focussed on bringing down US additional tariffs on Indian goods. As India’s competing countries, such as Vietnam, Bangladesh and Indonesia, are being charged additional tariffs of 19-20 per cent by the US, India wants its levies to be lowered to gain a competitive edge.
The US, on the other hand, wants India to open up its markets further for American goods, including some sensitive agricultural produce, which is a challenge for the country.
“As the US President said recently that a deal with India would happen soon and tariffs on India would go down at some point of time, both Indian exporters and the importers in the US are hopeful that things would be better soon. However, there is lack of clarity over whether Trump wants to wait till India stops buying Russian oil,” a Chennai-based exporter said.
Top supplier
In November, Russia continued to be India’s top crude supplier, with the country importing an average of 1.7 million barrels per day (bpd) of Russian crude this year. With refiners front-loading their purchases ahead of the sanctions implementation date of November 21, the month is expected to expected to close at 1.8–1.9 million bpd, per industry estimates.
However, both the government and analysts are anticipating a dip in imports of crude from Russia in December and January as costs would go up because of the sanctions on the oil companies (which supplied about two-thirds of Russian crude imported by India), their subsidiaries and shipping lines.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, New Delhi significantly ramped up its oil imports from Russia, which, due to steep discounts, grew to nearly 40 per cent of its total oil imports. The US had been demanding that India should stop its sourcing from Russia as it was fuelling the country’s war against Ukraine. New Delhi maintained that it was unfair to single out India as many other countries, including the West, were continuing to trade with Russia.
Published on November 24, 2025
