India's three state-owned oil firms saved a staggering $4.4 billion by bypassing western sanctions and importing discounted Russian oil since Moscow launched its special military operation in Ukraine in February, a report in The Times of India newspaper said.
Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum, and Hindustan Petroleum increased their purchases from Russia after it started offering deep discounts as most of Moscow's traditional buyers stopped buying crude out of fear of western sanctions.
India, on the other hand, resisted pressure from its western allies, including the United States, to shun Russian imports and has even derived a ruble-rupee trade mechanism to make payments for its crude purchases.
At present, India is the second greatest buyer of Russian oil after China. As per data sourced by Reuters, Moscow likewise became India's second-largest oil supplier in July, temporarily beating Riyadh to the third spot. Although Saudi Arabia regained its position in August, Russia remains among India’s top three oil suppliers.
Meanwhile, India's Commerce Ministry has suggested that the country imported oil worth $11.2 billion from April to July this year compared to just $1.3 billion during the same period in 2021.
India fulfills more than 80 percent of its oil needs through imports, and any rise in the prices of petroleum products has a deep impact on the country's citizens.
Earlier this month, Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman defended the South Asian country's decision to import crude from Russia despite the looming threat of western sanctions on Delhi. She said that India's oil imports from Moscow were part of India's efforts to tame retail inflation in the country.
"I respect the PM for his courage to get it (crude oil) from Russia because they are willing to give on discount... our entire import had 2% of Russian component, it was ramped up to 12-13% within a couple of months," she said during a public event in Delhi.