November 13, 2026: India’s purchases of Russian fossil fuels surged to a record Euro 6.4 billion in October, driven by a sharp increase in crude oil imports, helping Moscow push its fossil fuel export revenues to their highest monthly level since December 2022 despite Western sanctions.

“India was the second-largest buyer of Russian fossil fuels in October 2026, importing a total of EUR 6.4 billion of Russian hydrocarbons, its highest monthly total in data going back to January 2022. Crude oil constituted 91 per cent of India’s purchases, totalling EUR 5.8 billion. Coal (EUR 333 million) and oil products (EUR 232 million) constituted the remainder of its monthly Russian imports,” according to a monthly analysis by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).

China remained the largest global buyer of Russian fossil fuels, accounting for 51 per cent (EUR 10.7 billion) of Russia’s export revenues from the top five importers.

“India’s imports of Russian crude oil rose in October 2026, up 10% month-on-month. Russian crude imports rose at all three of India’s largest importing refineries: (Nayara Energy’s) Vadinar (up 12 per cent month-on-month), (Reliance Industries Ltd’s) Jamnagar (up 22 per cent), and (Indian Oil Corporation Ltd’s) Paradip (up 28 per cent),” CREA said. “This increase has once again made the Jamnagar refinery the biggest importer of seaborne Russian crude.”

(Source: PTI)