India’s oil imports in April 2022 increased by 14% year-on-year, but decreased by 10% relative to March 2022, to 20.52 million tons, according to data from India’s Ministry of Commerce.

Meanwhile, the country imported a total of 77.23 million tons of oil in the four months, up 36% from a year earlier.

Russia was the 4th largest supplier in April, exporting 1.62 million tons to the country – almost 8% of total monthly imports. April imports are 3 times higher than in the same period in 2021 and 4 times higher than in March 2022 (396.9 thousand tons). In March, Russia ranked only 11th in terms of shipments.

Overall, in January-April, India purchased 2.28 million tons of oil from Russia (4.4 times YoY growth), which is about 3% of imports of this type of raw materials. At the same time, in February the country did not buy Russian oil at all, and in January it purchased 260.3 thousand tons (1.9 times less YoY).

Earlier, the media reported that since the military operation in Ukraine began, India’s state and private refineries have increased their oil purchases from Russia, as Russian grades are offered at a significant discount against Brent.

On Tuesday, the Indian edition of The Economic Times, citing sources and analysts, reported that Russia became India’s second-largest oil supplier in May, pushing Saudi Arabia aside. According to the publication, Russian grades accounted for about 16.5% of India’s total oil imports, while supplies to India reached 18% in the structure of Russian exports (compared to 1% before the special operation).