India falls to 3rd spot in Russian fossil fuel imports in December

AFTER RELIANCE SLASHES CRUDE OIL PURCHASE

- OUR CORRESPONDENT

India fell to third place among buyers of Russian fossil fuels in December 2025 after Reliance Industries and state-owned refiners sharply cut crude oil imports, a European think tank said on Tuesday.

‘The total Russian hydrocarbon imports by India stood at 2.3 billion euros in December, down from 3.3 billion euros in the preceding month, according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).

“Turkey displaced India as the second largest importer, purchasing Euro 2.6 billion of Russian hydrocarbons in December,’ it said.

China remained the top buyer, accounting for 48 per cent (Euro 6 billion) of Russia’s export revenues from the top five importers.

“India was the third highest buyer of Russian fossil fuels, importing a total of Euro 2.3 billion of Russian hydrocarbons in December,’ CREA said.

“Crude oil constituted 78 per cent of India’s purchases, totalling Euro 1.8 billion. Coal (Euro 424 million) and oil products (Euro 82 million) constituted the remainder of India’s monthly imports”

In November, India spent 2.6 billion euros on the purchase of Russian crude oil, which is processed in refineries to make fuels like petrol and diesel.