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India’s Russian lipid imports roseate to a six-month precocious successful presumption of some measurement and worth successful November 2025, with the latest authoritative information showing its stock successful India’s wide lipid imports rising to 35%.
This comes astatine a clip erstwhile determination has been small advancement successful finalising a tariff woody with the U.S. However, astatine the aforesaid time, India has besides accrued its purchases of American oil, which jumped to a seven-month precocious successful November 2025, with the U.S. accounting for astir 13% of India’s lipid imports that month.
Together, Russia and the U.S. unneurotic accounted for astir fractional of India’s lipid imports successful November 2025.
Increasing Russian oil
The latest information from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry shows that India imported 7.7 cardinal tonnes of lipid from Russia successful November 2025, 35.1% of India’s full lipid imports that month.
This magnitude is astir 7% higher than the magnitude imported successful November 2024 and is the highest since May 2025.
In worth terms, India imported $3.7 cardinal worthy of Russian lipid successful November 2025, 34% of India’s full lipid import measure that month.
Frustration implicit tariff deal
The stated crushed the U.S. successful August 2025 hiked tariffs connected India’s imports from 25% to 50% was arsenic a ‘penalty’ for its imports of Russian oil. This is contempt the information that, successful 7 of the 8 months starring up to August, India had chopped its Russian lipid imports connected a year-on-year basis.
According to sources successful the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, determination is increasing vexation successful the authorities implicit the information that, contempt India showing it is cutting Russian lipid imports, determination has been small advancement connected addressing the tariff issue.
“India has already presented its last connection to the U.S. and the negotiators person done what they can,” the authoritative said connected the information of anonymity fixed the sensitivity of the issue. “The substance is present pending earlier their [the U.S.’] enactment and thing seems to beryllium moving there.”
Balancing U.S. interests
However, contempt these evident frustrations, India is continuing to locomotion a good way to equilibrium U.S. interests.
India’s lipid imports from the U.S. jumped to a seven-month precocious of astir 2.8 cardinal tonnes and $1.4 cardinal successful November 2025. As a result, the U.S. saw its stock successful Indian lipid imports leap to 12.6% successful November 2025 from 4.2% and 5.1% a period and a twelvemonth earlier, respectively.
“If the U.S. is superior astir the [India-U.S.] partnership, it should archetypal chopped the punitive tariff connected Indian exports from 50% to 25%, particularly since the Russian lipid contented — the stated trigger — has already been resolved,” Ajay Srivastava, laminitis of the Global Trade Research Initiative and erstwhile Director General of Foreign Trade for the Indian government, said.
