India's imports from Russia soar to $41.56 billion in April-Feb period

Russia has emerged as India's fourth largest import source in the first 11 months of the current fiscal year.

Prior to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Russia held a market share of less than 1 percent in India's import basket. However, as of January, Russia's share of India's oil imports surged to 1.27 million barrels per day, accounting for a 28 percent share, as reported by energy cargo tracker, Vortexa.

India, the third-largest importer of crude oil in the world, has been taking advantage of discounted prices on Russian oil, which became available when some Western countries chose to boycott it as a means of punishing Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.

According to the ministry's data, there was an increase in imports from China and the UAE during the period of April to February. The imports from China went up by approximately 6.2 percent amounting to $90.72 billion, while the imports from the UAE saw a more significant increase of 21.5 percent, totaling $48.88 billion.

Additionally, India experienced a substantial increase in imports from the US, with a growth rate of around 19.5 percent, reaching a total of $46 billion, during the mentioned period.

On the export front, the US emerged as the top destination for Indian exporters during the 11-month period, accounting for 17.5 percent of the country’s total outbound shipments.

Exports to the US increased to USD 70.99 billion as against USD 68.447 billion during April-February period of 2021-22.

Furthermoew, it was observed that during the April-February period, exports from India to the UAE surged to $28.63 billion compared to $24.95 billion recorded in the corresponding period of the previous year. Conversely, exports to China during the same period decreased to $13.64 billion as compared to the figure of $19.81 billion reported during the April-February period of 2021-22.