India on Thursday refused to rule out purchasing crude oil from Russia at lower price, with the Ministry of External Affairs pointing out that a number of European countries are still purchasing oil from Russia.
“On imports of energy from Russia – let me just highlight that a number of countries are doing so, especially in Europe, and for the moment I’ll leave it at that… We are a major oil importer and we are looking at all options at all points, we need the energy,” MEA spokesperson Arindam Baghchi said.
The spokesperson further said that India is a net oil importer and the country is exploring all the possible avenues to purchase crude from the global oil market at favourable rates given that the oil prices have shot up over USD 100 per barrel since Russia invaded Ukraine.
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It was reported this week that the state-owned Indian Oil Corporation has bought around 3 million barrels of crude oil from Russia at a steep discount rate.
The discount was around USD 20-25 per barrel to dated Brent, as per media reports.
India’s Reserve Bank of India is in consultation on a rupee-ruble trade agreement with Russia so as to continue bilateral trade by bypassing western sanctions, as per a report by the Financial Times.
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MEA spokesperson also said that the Rupee-Ruble mechanism for trade has been done in the past during the Soviet era as well and that this was continued with Russia as well.
The Rupee-Ruble mechanism was used in the S-400 defence system deal as well. It was confirmed in 2019 that the USD5.2 billion deal to buy 5 S-400 Triumf missile systems. The mode of payment was Indian currency and the payments were made through banks on both sides.
India has been on the receiving end of criticism over its refusal to criticize the Russian invasion of Ukraine. India has abstained six times in various UN resolutions to condemn Russia.
