India's reliance on oil import may hit full-year high in FY25

Rising Dependency

- SUKALP SHARMA

GROWING DEMAND FOR fuel and other petroleum products amid stagnant domestic crude oil output led India's reliance on imported crude oil increasing to over 88 percent in the first 11 months of the current financial year ending March (FY25), indicating that the import dependency for the full financial year could breach the all-time-high level of the last financial year.

Latest data released by the oil ministry's Petroleum Planning & Analysis Cell (PPAC) shows that India's oil import dependency was 88.2 per cent in April-February, up from 87.7 per cent in the corresponding period of FY24. For the full FY24, reliance on imported oil was 87.8 per cent. Industry watchers believe that the import dependency level for the entire FY25 could be a tad higher than the April-February level, as was the case in the previous financial year.