Crude import bill down 18%

Cheap Russian Oil Plays Its Part

- Arunima Bharadwaj

INDIA'S CRUDE IMPORT bill declined by 18% to $40.4 billion in the first four months of FY26, compared with $49 billion in the year-ago period, according to data from the government's petroleum planning and analysis cell.

The country imported 81.2 million tonne of crude oil during April to July, marginally down from 81.7 million tonne in the same period of previous fiscal. India's reliance on crude oil imports increased to 88.8% during the period, up from 88.1% in April-July of 2024, amid rising demand.

In July, the country imported 18.6 million tonne of crude oil, against 19.4 million tonne in the year-ago period.

The import bill for last month stood at $9.5 billion, down from $11.5 billion in the same period last year.