India plans to increase crude imports from Russia to partially make up for the shortfall caused by the drone attack on the oil facilities of Saudi Arabia.
“We discussed elaborately to raise imports from Russia,” oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan told reporters on Tuesday after meeting Igor Sechin, chief executive of Russian oil major Rosneft.
India on Tuesday signed a non-binding co-operation agreement with Russia that reiterated the interest of Indian companies taking a stake in the oilfields in the Russian Far East.
India imports a small quantity from Russia but is looking to bring more through a new navigation channel between Vladivostok and Chennai. “We are confident, we will have some deal,” Pradhan said.
