India Accounted for 20% of All of Russia’s Crude Oil Exports Since Ukraine War: Report

New Delhi: India has been stepping up its crude oil purchases from Russia since 2022, when Russia went into a war with Ukraine, a fact that has irked the United States in recent past so much so that it imposed a ‘penalty’ tariff of 25% over and above an existing reciprocal tariff of 25% on India.

According to a report by The Economic Times, citing Finland’s Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), India purchased Russian oil worth Rs 132 billion since early 2022, that is, when Russia’s invasion into Ukraine began. This accounts for 20% of Russia’s total export earnings, which amounts to Rs 640 billion during the same period.

Although Western nations have attempted to boycott Russian purchases in the last two years, the oil remains accessible in global markets, enabling countries like India and China to purchase it at reduced price.

Russia’s cumulative earnings from oil, gas, and coal exports since the war’s onset reached Rs 931 billion, according to CREA. While China’s Russian oil imports remain the highest at Rs 193 billion, India’s imports surpassed both the EU’s Rs 105 billion and Turkiye’s Rs 71 billion.

The US President Donald Trump and his administration has been continuously criticising India for its purchases from Russia. Recently, Trump cabinet official Scott Bessent said that “some of India’s richest families” are involved in the country’s “unacceptable” “profiteering” from buying and reselling Russian crude. 

A day prior to that, White House trade adviser and economist Peter Navarro wrote in a newspaper column that the proceeds from India’s purchases of Russian oil are flowing to India’s “politically connected energy titans, and in turn, into Vladimir Putin’s war chest”.

Trump’s 25% ‘penalty’ tariff on India, above the 25% ‘reciprocal’ tariff introduced in July brings India’s total to a whopping 50%, and it is likely to affect several export industries. While the reciprocal tariffs have already come into force, the penalty is scheduled to be imposed on August 27.

Several rounds of trade negotiations have been held between the two countries as they try to reach a bilateral agreement, however, so far, the talks have ended in stalemate.

This article went live on August twenty-second, two thousand twenty five, at fifty-one minutes past eight in the evening.

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