As the Reuters news agency made public last week, Russia is offering its coal to Indian traders at a discount of up to 30%. According to Reuters, imports of Russian coal in India have therefore increased sixfold in recent days compared to the previous year.
Indian traders have also been substantially increasing purchases of Russian crude oil: according to internal government documents, India spent $2.21 billion on Russian oil in late May to mid-June alone, 31 times more than in the same period last year. Russia is now India’s second-largest supplier of oil after Iraq—ahead of the Gulf states.
Before the war, oil imports from Russia had accounted for just 2% of total imports. In May 2021, India imported 136,774 barrels per day from Russia, according to commodity data analysis firm Kpler, rising to 840,645 barrels per day in May 2022. In June, India is estimated to have imported over 1 million barrels per day. Russia is thus likely to be responsible for around a quarter of India’s oil imports today. Also interesting: India’s exports of oil products made from Russian oil to Europe have recently increased.
And what’s more: Russia is now China’s oil supplier number one.
