India cuts its oil imports from Russia by 38% in value terms and 31% in volume terms in October 2025 as compared to last year, with the cuts driven by a high base effect as well as an overall reduction in India’s oil imports. 

The latest official data from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry shows India imported $3.55 billion worth of crude oil from Russia in October 2025, down from a historically high $5.8 billion in October 2024. This is the sharpest single-month drop in the value of oil imports from Russia.

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In volume terms, India imported 71.6 lakh tonnes of Russian oil, down from 103.8 lakh tonnes in October 2024, which too was among the highest oil imports India had made from Russia. 

This follows up on a 29% reduction in value terms and 17% reduction in volume terms in September 2025. That said, Russia still accounts for about 32% of India’s total oil imports by value and volume.   

The data shows that this cut in oil imports from Russia comes at a time when India’s total oil import bill was also down 15.4% in October 2025. However, it also shows that, during this month, oil imports from the U.S. jumped nearly 40% in volume terms, and 18.3% in value terms as compared to October last year. 

India’s spend on Russian oil buy at €2.5 billion in October ahead of new sanctions

A previous analysis by The Hindu had shown that India’s strategy to pull back on its Russian oil imports had been playing out for a longer period, beginning well before the U.S. imposed a 25% tariff penalty on India in August for importing Russian oil.

Over the last 12 months up to the end of October 2025, India had seen a year-on-year fall in Russian oil imports in nine months. Most of these cuts were in double digits, and six were by more than 20% each. 

Notably, on a month-on-month basis, India’s imports from Russia have actually grown. That is, oil imports from Russia in October 2025 were 7.3% and 7.8% higher than in September 2025, by value and volume, respectively. 

Reliance Industries Ltd, one of the top importers of crude oil from Russia has decided to recalibrate its oil imports from that country in line with Government of India’s guidelines.

A company official confirmed the development.

This comes after new sanctions being imposed by U.S. and Europe on Russia oil firms.

Indian refiners including IOC, HPCL and BPCL as well as Reliance have been major importers of Russia crude in the spot market over the last few years.

Taking a swipe at the government, the Congress on Tuesday (October 21, 2025) said the matter of India’s imports of oil from Russia has been raised by U.S. President Donald Trump thrice in the past five days, and he has “brushed aside” the MEA’s attempts at denial of any conversation in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised stopping Russian oil imports.

The Opposition party’s assertion came after Mr. Trump said India is going to pay massive tariffs if it continues to buy oil from Russia, while reiterating that he got assurance from Prime Minister Narendra Modi that New Delhi is going to halt its oil purchases from Moscow.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said, “The matter of India’s imports of oil from Russia has been raised by President Trump now thrice in the past five days. And no doubt he will keep increasing this tally as he prepares to meet President (Vladimir) Putin in Budapest later in the week.”

“President Trump says he has spoken to his good friend Mr. Modi and India has promised to stop these imports. The MEA says that it is unaware of such conversations(!) but President Trump has clearly brushed aside the MEA’s attempts at denial.”

Speaking to reporters onboard Air Force One, Mr. Trump said India will continue to pay massive tariffs if it does not cease buying oil from Russia, adding that it (India) does not want to do that.

Mr. Trump was replying to a question about India’s recent remarks on oil purchases from Russia.

Taking a swipe at PM Modi, the Congress on Saturday (October 18, 2025) had said the PM suddenly becomes a “mauni baba” whenever Mr. Trump states that he stopped India-Pakistan conflict or that India will reduce its oil imports from Russia.

The assertion came after Mr. Trump repeated his claims that India will not be buying oil from Russia, saying that the country has already “de-escalated” and is “pulling back”.

This was the second time that Mr. Trump has made such claims.

India on Thursday (October 16, 2025) said it is “broad-basing and diversifying” its sourcing of energy to meet market conditions, hours after Mr. Trump claimed that PM Modi had assured him that New Delhi will stop procuring Russian crude oil.

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, responding to questions on Mr. Trump’s remarks that PM Modi made the assurance to him on Wednesday (October 15, 2025), said he was not aware of any such phone conversation, adding India’s oil purchases are guided to safeguard the interests of the Indian consumers in a “volatile” energy scenario.

The Congress has alleged that PM Modi is “frightened” of Mr. Trump and appears to have outsourced key decisions to the U.S.

The opposition party had also alleged that the foreign policy of the Modi government has “completely collapsed” and said the Centre must take opposition leaders into confidence by either calling an all-party meeting or speaking to them one-on-one.

Washington has been maintaining that India is helping Putin finance the Ukraine war through its purchase of Russian crude oil.

The relations between New Delhi and Washington have been reeling under severe stress after Mr. Trump doubled tariffs on Indian goods to a whopping 50%, including a 25% additional duty for India’s purchase of Russian crude oil.

India described the U.S. action as “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable”.

India’s state-owned refiners trimmed down purchases of Russian oil by more than 45% between June and September this year, according to data from real-time maritime and analytics provider Kpler. Speaking to The Hindu, Naveen Das, Senior Crude Oil Analyst at Kpler said state-owned refiners took 600 thousand barrels/day (kb/d) of oil from Russia in September, a “fairly substantial” cut from 1.1 million barrels/day they took in June this year.

The trimming down of Russian oil imports fall against a larger geopolitical setting centred around U.S. President Donald Trump imposing 50% tariff on imports from India this August. This included a 25% penalty for buying Russian oil. Washington has been adamant that New Delhi halt their crude purchases from Moscow as a precondition to negotiate a favourable trade deal.

However, India has been steadfast about its commitment to maintaining domestic energy security. New Delhi has been procuring Russian oil at a discount after the latter found itself mired in sanctions following their actions in Ukraine.

However, while Indian state-run refiners have cut purchases from Moscow, India’s privately-owned refiners, Reliance Industries and Russia’s Rosneft-backed Nayara Energy, have increased their uptake. According to Kpler data, Reliance Industries now imports 850 kb/d of Russian oil which is more than double of the 420 kb/d it was importing in January. Further, Nayara imported nearly 400 kb/d in October – its highest this year.

Also Read | Indian refiners pause Russian oil purchases, sources say

Russian exports high, not proportionally transferring to India

According to Mr. Das, although Russia exported more crude oil in both August and September, it did not translate into proportionate arrivals to India. India’s total imports from Russia have remained stable since July hovering at about 1.63 mb/d. This is after Russian imports touched an over two-year high of more than 2 mb/d in June. Kpler predicts “another small dip” may come in October, thus, with estimated imports coming in at 1.56 mb/d.

Also Read | Russia is not Iran, India can’t cancel oil imports on U.S. demand: experts

Narrowing discount

The Kpler analyst observed the discount on Russian crude, notably the medium-sour Urals grade which make up the majority of India’s Russian crude imports, is “narrowing” at present. When the secondary round of tariffs was imposed in August, the landing price of a barrel on the West Coast of India entailed an approx. $6 discount to the Dubai benchmark. At present, the discount is “nearer to $0.80/barrel”, Mr. Das observed, explaining, “[This is with] the market realising that India is buying Russian crude more aggressively than previously anticipated, while higher global freight costs are [also] eroding the discount on a landed basis.”

Notwithstanding Russia’s placement in the latest geopolitical setting, oil markets were expected to remain stable after the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies (OPEC+), including Russia, agreed to increase production by 137 kb/d starting November.

This created conditions for a potentially increased flow of oil in the global market and softening of prices, especially the crude from Middle East. The Kpler analyst observes an uptick in Iraqi crude reaching India alongside “steady volumes” from Saudi Arabia. However, he says certain OPEC+ countries have made a note of the issues with the Russian supply, therefore, they are “keeping prices slightly higher to Asian buyers (knowing they might look for alternatives)”.

“But looking ahead, with more oil available globally in the fourth quarter, prices should come down and as such India could look to capitalise on OPEC+ policy of producing and shipping more oil,” he stated.

Also Read | Ending India’s Russian oil imports is top priority, says U.S. envoy-designate Sergio Gor

Russia’s domestic pressures after Ukraine drone attacks

Earlier in September, Kyiv launched large-scale drone attack on Russia’s northwestern region, damaging their port infrastructure and pipelines. This prompted concerns about Moscow’s ability to maintain their oil supply, both for exports and domestic purposes. Mr. Das told The Hindu that present data does not affirm that all Russian oil going into the refineries have been displaced to exports. “Whilst there has been an uptick in exports in August and September, it is conceivable that there has been some production drop in Russia as well,” he said, adding, “As such lower availability of Russian oil would increase the price, and mean that India receives lower discounts and that there is simply less Russian oil to buy on the market.”

“India must take Trump’s point over Russian oil seriously,” said Republican leader Nikki Haley, adding that New Delhi must work with the White House to find a solution, “sooner the better”. “Navigating issues like trade disagreements and Russian oil imports demands hard dialogue,” Ms. Haley posted on social media on Saturday (August 23, 2025).

She posted on X a portion of the opinion piece she wrote last week for Newsweek amid strain in ties between the two countries after President Donald Trump slapped 50% tariff on Indian goods.

Ms. Haley has been facing criticism within her party for favouring India amid tariff tensions between the two countries.

In her article Ms. Haley said, “Trump is right to target India’s massive Russian oil purchases, which are helping to fund Vladimir Putin’s brutal war against Ukraine.” However, she added that India must be treated like the “prized free and democratic partner that it is — not an adversary like China.” Ms. Haley highlighted decades of “friendship and goodwill” between India and the U.S., the world’s two largest democracies. It provides a “solid basis to move past the current turbulence”, she added. She said that the U.S. and India “should not lose sight of what matters most: our shared goals”. “To face China, the United States must have a friend in India,” she added. “India stands alone in its potential to manufacture at China-like scale for products that can’t be quickly or efficiently produced here [in the U.S.],” Ms. Haley said in her article.

Ms. Haley, the former Governor of South Carolina, was the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations under Mr. Trump’s first presidential term, becoming the first Indian-American to be appointed to a Cabinet-level post in the U.S. administration.

In 2013, she officially announced her candidacy for the 2024 presidential election and withdrew from the race in March last year. President Trump has doubled tariffs on Indian goods to a whopping 50%, including a 25% additional duties for India’s purchase of Russian crude oil that will come into effect from August 27.

Also read:  Will India cave in to U.S. pressure on Russian oil? | Explained

Defending its purchase of Russian crude oil, India has been maintaining that its energy procurement is driven by national interest and market dynamics.

India turned to purchasing Russian oil sold at a discount after Western countries imposed sanctions on Moscow and shunned its supplies over its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.