India saved roughly $2.7 billion by importing discounted Russian oil in the first nine months of this year, according to calculations based on government data, helping it support economic growth and easing pressure on its trade deficit.
Crude oil accounts for about a third of India’s overall imports by value.
The world’s third-biggest oil importer and consumer replaced Europe as the largest buyer of seaborne Russian crude this year after the West imposed sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine last year.