Russia has proposed to ramp up the supply of crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) to India. The development comes amid the energy crunch faced by India due to the West Asian war.
According to a report by Business Standard, the proposal was made by Russia’s First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov in a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.
Confirming the meeting between the two leaders, the Russian Embassy in India said that cooperation on the energy front was the focal point of the discussions.
“Particular attention was paid to cooperation in the oil and gas sector. Denis Manturov confirmed that Russian companies have the capacity to steadily increase supplies of oil and liquefied natural gas to the Indian market,” said the Russian Embassy.
As crude oil and LNG supplies have plummeted from the Gulf region due to the war, India has again turned to Russia to meet its energy needs.
In March, India imported over 2 million barrels of Russian crude every day, which was double the 1 million barrels of imports per day in the previous month.
With this, India’s imports of Russian crude jumped to a nine-month high. India had started to reduce its consumption of Russian crude under pressure from United States President Donald Trump.
However, the US had to exempt Russian crude from sanctions amid the growing energy crisis across the world. Although Russian crude was available to India at a discount of $8–10 per barrel before the Iran war, it is now being sold at a premium of at least $6–7 per barrel.
Russia has also proposed to sell LNG to India, which is currently facing challenges in meeting LPG demand in the country. While India has been a big buyer of Russian crude, LNG has not made it to the list so far.
Apart from energy, the discussion also touched upon opportunities in fertilisers, nuclear power, industrial cooperation, space, and education.
Apart from PM Modi, Manturov also held talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.