Amid U.S. tariff threat, India tells state refiners to find alternatives to Russian oil — Bloomberg

The Indian government has instructed state-owned oil refiners to “come up with plans for buying non-Russian crude,” sources familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. The guidance reportedly amounts to “scenario planning, should Russian crude become unavailable.” According to Reuters, Indian state refiners have stopped buying Russian oil over the past week amid narrowing discounts and threats from U.S. President Donald Trump.

On July 30, Trump wrote on social media that India would face a 25-percent tariff “plus a penalty” for buying “a vast majority of their military equipment from Russia” and being “Russia’s largest buyer of ENERGY.” 

Russia’s share of Indian oil imports has surged in recent years, rising from just 2 percent in 2020 to more than 35 percent by mid-2025, as India capitalized on steep discounts resulting from Western sanctions on Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.

According to the Indian newspaper The Financial Express, Russia is India’s largest oil supplier, accounting for approximately 35 percent of India’s total oil imports. While state refiners control the majority of India’s refining capacity, private refiners have purchased around 60 percent of the Russian oil imported into India.