India to increase Russian oil imports despite US threats: Report
Iran Press TV
Thursday, 28 August 2025 6:58 PM
In a move that defies the new tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump to penalize India for purchasing oil from Russia, New Delhi has reportedly ramped up its Russian oil imports.
According to Reuters on Thursday, Indian refiners are expected to increase their purchases of Russian oil by 150,000 to 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) in September, marking an increase of 10-20 percent from August.
Since the onset of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2022 and the subsequent collapse of Russia's oil exports to Europe, Moscow has turned to India and China, offering steep discounts that have prompted New Delhi to significantly boost its imports of Russian oil.
Reliance and Nayara Energy, the latter of which is majority-owned by Russian interests, are reportedly the two largest buyers of Russian oil in India.
The report also noted that Russia's strategy to export more oil to India in September is driven by refinery outages that have diminished Moscow's own refining capacity, which has been reduced by 17 percent due to recent attacks by Ukraine.
India is currently the largest importer of Russian crude, sourcing about 40 percent of its oil through Russian tankers.
A day before Trump's initial 25 percent tariff on India took effect on August 7, he announced plans to double the existing US tariffs on the country to 50 percent, citing concerns over India's direct or indirect imports of oil from the Russian Federation.
"They're fueling the war machine. And if they're going to do that, then I'm not going to be happy," Trump said in an interview earlier this month.
On Wednesday, Trump's 50 percent tariffs on India came into effect.
In his speech at the Economic Times World Leaders Forum (ET WLF) on Saturday, Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar reaffirmed that New Delhi would continue to make independent decisions, stating that there are certain "red lines" in the India-US trade deal negotiations.
Last week, the top Indian diplomat revealed plans to increase annual trade with Russia to $100 billion by 2030.
During India's 78th Independence Day celebrations on August 15, Prime Minister Narendra Modi responded to US tariff threats by declaring that he would defend his country "like a wall."
Analysts suggest India saved $17 billion by increasing imports of discounted Russian oil. However, Trump's newly imposed tariffs of up to 50 percent could jeopardize $37 billion worth of Indian exports to the US, putting labor-intensive sectors like textiles, gems, and jewelry at risk of significant job losses.
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