NEW DELHI: India will continue to buy “cheap oil” from Russia but has not finalized the terms of the waiver, a senior government official familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.
“We will get cheaper oil from Russia,” a government official told reporters on Wednesday. He said the average price at which the world’s third-largest oil importer buys crude is currently above $100 a barrel.
Work was underway to set up a rupee-ruble trading mechanism to facilitate transactions, amid concerns that Western sanctions on Moscow, including banks, might block traditional payment routes, the official said.
Without elaborating further, the official said that no final decision had been taken and all possible modes of payment for the goods were still under discussion.
While Russia’s oil exports have not come under Western sanctions to date, some international traders have refrained from buying barrels because of disruptions to payment systems and shipping.
The official also said that India is increasing its dependence on coal due to rising power demand, with state-run Coal India producing more coal in the coming months.
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