New Delhi: The United States has long been pressuring India to stop purchasing Russian oil. The Donald Trump-led administration has even imposed a 50 per cent tariff on India. Trump has also consistently claimed that India could soon stop buying Russian oil. On Wednesday October 15 he even said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had personally agreed to stop these purchases in a short time. How important is Russian oil to Indian economy? Russian Ambassador to India Denis Alipov stated that Russian oil is very beneficial to the Indian economy and the welfare of the Indian people. Meanwhile the Indian Foreign Ministry stated that its import policy was formulated keeping in mind the interests of Indian consumers in an unstable energy landscape and a spokesperson later said they were unaware of any discussions between Modi and Trump. India is not willing to stop buying oil from Russia under US pressure. Therefore it is important to understand how important Russian oil is to the Indian economy. Last year India the worlds third-largest oil importer purchased $52.7 billion worth of Russian crude oil 37% of its oil bill followed by Iraq Saudi Arabia the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Nigeria and the United States. Which countries did India buy oil from before Russia? Before the increase in Russian imports Indias top 10 crude oil suppliers in 2021-22 were Russia Iraq Saudi Arabia the United Arab Emirates the United States Brazil Kuwait Mexico Nigeria and Oman. Although there is some popular belief that India is entirely dependent on Russian oil it still imports significant quantities from the US. According to the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) a Delhi-based think tank in 2024 India purchased US petroleum products worth $7.7 billion—including $4.8 billion worth of crude oil—but still had a petroleum trade deficit of $3.2 billion with Washington. Ukraine War changed everything Indias oil imports from Russia increased due to the Ukraine War. Traditional consumers of Russian energy halted purchases due to this war. Numerous sanctions were imposed on Russia. This prompted Russia to offer steep discounts on oil. India which has a significant need for cheap energy seized the opportunity and began purchasing large quantities of oil from Russia. Indias Russian oil imports increased from 4 million tonnes in 2021-22 to over 87 million tonnes in 2024-25. This jump was due to discounts granted by Russia following Western sanctions making its crude oil more attractive to Indian refiners. India benefited from buying Russian oil After 2021-22 Russian oil prices averaged a 14.1% discount in 2022-23 and 10.4% in 2023-24 saving India approximately $5 billion annually or 3-4% of its crude oil import bill. The three Gulf countries—Iraq Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates—saw a decline of 11 percentage points in their share but their actual volume remained stable as Indias total imports increased from 196 million tonnes to 244 million tonnes. What would happen if India stopped buying Russian oil? Experts believe that if India stopped buying oil from Russia global oil prices could rise. Global oil demand could also increase but if production remained stable prices could continue to rise. This would impact consumers in India and inflation would also increase. Therefore the Modi government would want to avoid such a risk. However if oil were available from another country at the same price as Russia the situation could change.