Kumar Bahukhandi
Despite US sanctions, India can continue buying oil from Russia (Photo: PTI/Reuters)
US President Donald Trump has reduced the tariff on Indian goods from 50% to 18%. Along with this, the 25% punitive tariff imposed on India for purchasing Russian oil has also been lifted. Trump claims that India has stopped buying Russian oil, but India has not commented on this. In this context, Russia has now offered India a new deal.
US President Donald Trump has reduced the tariff imposed on India from 50% to 18%. This includes the removal of the 25% tariff imposed on India for purchasing Russian oil. Trump claimed that India has agreed to stop buying Russian oil, although the Modi government has not yet issued any clear statement on the matter. Meanwhile, Russia has repeatedly stated that India is free to buy oil from any country.
Meanwhile, reports suggest that Russia is making every effort to keep India on its side. Since the start of the war in Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has become India’s largest oil supplier. Clearly, Russia would not want to lose such a major oil customer.
According to a Bloomberg report, Russia has increased discounts on oil for Indian refineries to ensure that India continues to buy Russian oil despite its trade deals with the United States.
Russia makes a big offer to India
According to reports, the discounts offered to Indian refineries have increased further in the last 10 days. Russia’s flagship crude oil, Urals grade, is now being offered at more than $10 per barrel cheaper than the global benchmark Brent crude, including shipping and other costs. This information was provided by traders involved in these deals.
The report, citing analytics firm Argus, states that the discount has reached approximately $11 per barrel. Before January 22, it was around $9.15.
The US imposed sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, in October 2025, which led to a decrease in India’s purchases of Russian oil. The current $11 discount is three times higher than the discount Russia offered India before these sanctions.
India is buying oil from Russia because it is cheaper
India and Russia share a historical relationship of friendship, and Russia is India’s largest supplier of defense equipment. However, India was never a traditional buyer of Russian oil. India began purchasing Russian oil, and within a few months, Russia became India’s largest crude oil supplier. India started buying approximately 2 million barrels of oil from Russia every day.
While US sanctions on Russia have led to a decrease in India’s oil purchases in recent months, the average remained at around 1.2 million barrels per day in January.
According to data intelligence firm Kpler, India is highly unlikely to stop buying Russian oil. Kpler suggests that imports could stabilize in the range of 1.1 to 1.3 million barrels per day in the first quarter and the subsequent period.
According to Kpler, India is receiving a discount of approximately $9 per barrel on Urals grade crude compared to Brent. This makes Russian oil $4 to $5 cheaper than Venezuelan oil for India.
Despite US pressure, India has not distanced itself from Russian oil.
Meanwhile, financial analyst and head of the Indian Business Alliance, Neeraj Shah, says that despite claims by former US President Donald Trump, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not distanced himself from Russian oil. According to Shah, Modi may raise the issue of payments in local currencies during his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the BRICS summit in 2026.
In an interview with Russian media outlet URA.RU, Neeraj Shah said that India has already rejected the US demand to stop buying Russian oil and instead purchase American and Venezuelan oil.
Shah said, “I regularly speak with Indian leaders, so I know what I’m talking about. Trump’s statements shouldn’t be trusted. We won’t discuss why he said that because he says many things. We are confident that he will reduce the tariffs to 18 percent, as Narendra Modi has already said.”
What did India say about the US allegations?
Responding to Trump’s claim that India would stop buying Russian oil, the Ministry of External Affairs clarified on Thursday that India’s top priority is to meet the needs of its 1.4 billion people.
After the announcement of the India-US trade agreement, Trump claimed that India would stop buying Russian oil and instead invest in Venezuelan oil.
At a press conference, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “As far as India’s energy security or energy sources are concerned, the government has stated this publicly on several occasions, and I am reiterating here that meeting the energy demands of 1.4 billion people is the government’s top priority.”
Reliance Refinery begins buying oil from Venezuela
Meanwhile, news is emerging that India’s largest oil refinery, Reliance Industries, has started buying crude oil from Venezuela. According to Reuters news agency, trade sources said that India’s Reliance Industries purchased 2 million barrels of Venezuelan crude oil from trader Vitol on Thursday. This is the first time in the last year that the company has purchased oil from the South American country.
The US government has granted licenses to trading companies Vitol and Trafigura for the marketing and sale of millions of barrels of Venezuelan oil. Last month, the US President had Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro abducted from his bedroom in a military operation.
Following this, Trump established control over Venezuelan oil and struck a supply agreement with the country’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez. It is under this agreement that the US is selling Venezuelan oil.
