[Financial analysts Bloomberg estimate that Indian exporters to Russia are currently awaiting payments equivalent to about $500m (£381.5m). Rising global oil prices are a concern for India's policymakers. (Photo by= Getty Images)]

Russia is seeking new markets for its oil exports as Western sanctions tighten, and India has been taking advantage of discounted prices to ramp up imports from the country. The US has said that although these oil imports do not violate sanctions, "support for Russia...is support for an invasion that obviously is having a devastating impact", BBC reported.
 
After the US and China, India is the world's third-largest consumer of oil, over 80% of which is imported. In 2021, India bought about 12 million barrels of oil from Russia, only 2% of its total imports. By far the largest supplies last year came from the Middle East, with significant quantities also from the US and Nigeria. In January and February, India didn't import any oil from Russia. But contracts for March and April have already reached six million barrels, according to data compiled by Kpler, a commodities research group.

 
The Indian government says even if it buys more oil from Russia, it would "still be a drop, literally a drop, in a larger bucket" of its oil imports globally. Following its invasion of Ukraine, there are now fewer buyers for Russia's Ural crude oil, and its price has fallen. India's big refining companies are facing a challenge trying to finance these discounted purchases, because of sanctions on Russian banks. It's a problem facing trade in both directions.