India’s dependency on crude imports at new high

New Delhi: India’s crude oil imports dropped 16 per cent in the fiscal year ended March 31 as lower international rates, but the dependency on overseas suppliers rose to a new high, official data showed.India imported 232.5 million tonnes of crude oil, which is refined into fuels like petrol and diesel, in the 2023-24 fiscal (April 2023 to March 2024), almost the same as in the previous financial year. But it paid $132.4 billion for the imports in FY24 as against $157.5 billion import bill in 2022-23, oil ministry’s Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) data showed.

The world’s third largest oil importing and consuming nation has been able to add to its domestic production drop, raising its import dependence. Import dependence of crude oil soared to 87.7 per cent in 2023-24, up from 87.4 per cent, according to PPAC. Domestic crude oil production was almost unchanged at 29.4 million tonnes in 2023-24. Besides crude oil, India spent $23.4 billion on import of 48.1 million tonnes of petroleum products like LPG. It also exported 62.2 million tonnes of products for $47.4 billion.

Other than oil, India also imports gas in its liquid form, also called LNG. After the price shock of 2022-23, import of 30.91 billion cubic meters of gas at a cost of $13.3 billion in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2024. This compared with $17.1 billion spent on import of 26.3 bcm of gas in 2022-23 when energy prices shot up to record levels in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Net oil and gas import bill (crude oil plus petroleum product plus LNG import bill minus exports) stood at $121.6 billion in 2023-24, down from $144.2 billion.