New Delhi: India’s crude oil imports fell 29% year-on-year to $63.4 billion in the first half of 2023-24, with a declining trend in the average monthly oil import bill since the September peak of $93.54 per barrel, providing some relief to the exchequer amid ongoing elections and deteriorating geopolitical situation, according to official data. Import volumes rose in the same period.
The average cost of imported oil fell about 20.6% to $82.34 a barrel in the six months to September from $103.68 in the same period last year, according to provisional data by the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell, an arm of the oil ministry.
