India, the world’s third-largest oil consumer, spent 2.5 billion euro on buying crude oil from Russia in September, 14 per cent less than the previous month, a European think tank said.
Illustration: Dado Ruvic/Reuters
India remained the second-largest buyer of Russian fossil fuels in September behind China, according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).
Traditionally reliant on Middle Eastern oil, India significantly increased its imports from Russia following the February 2022 Ukraine invasion.
Western sanctions and reduced European demand made Russian oil available at steep discounts.
As a result, India’s Russian crude imports surged from under 1 per cent to nearly 40 per cent of its total crude oil imports in a short span.
In September, “India remained the second-largest buyer of Russian fossil fuels, importing a total of EUR 3.6 billion.
“Crude oil dominated India’s purchases at 77 per cent (EUR 2.5 billion), followed by coal at 13 per cent (EUR 452 million) and oil products at 10 per cent (EUR 344 million),” CREA said.
India’s imports of Russian crude at about 1.6 million barrels per day were 9 per cent lower month-on-month to their lowest volumes since February, despite their total imports recording a marginal increase.
“The drop in Indian imports of Russian crude has been mainly led by a 38 per cent month-on-month drop in state-owned refineries’ imports from Russia.
“Indian state-owned refineries’ Russian crude imports have dropped to the lowest levels since May 2022,” it said.
In September 2025, China remained the largest global buyer of Russian fossil fuels, accounting for 42 per cent (EUR 5.5 billion) of Russia’s export revenues from the top five importers.
Some of the refineries in India turned Russian crude oil into fuels like petrol and diesel, which were exported to Europe and other G7 countries.
When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, it triggered a series of sanctions from the United States, the European Union, and other Western nations, aimed at crippling Russia’s economy.
One of the main sanctions was on Russian oil exports, which significantly impacted Russia’s ability to sell oil to European markets.
As a result, Russia began offering crude oil at heavily discounted prices in an attempt to find new buyers for its oil.
India, with its large energy needs and an economy sensitive to oil price fluctuations, found this offer too attractive to ignore.
The price discount on Russian oil, sometimes as much as $18-20 per barrel lower than the market price of other oil, allowed India to procure oil at a much cheaper rate.
In September, the discount on Russia’s Urals crude increased by a massive 39 per cent month-on-month, averaging $5.13 per barrel against Brent.
