Industry Odisha Bureau, April 17: Even after the formal expiry of the ad hoc one-month-long scope accorded to India (amid the current West Asia crisis) by the US Trump regime waiving off the sanctions imposed against importing crude oil and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG/cooking gas) from Russia, the million dollar question lurks whether beleaguered India would still dare buying these essential commodities from Russia so that the ongoing energy crunch could be tackled.
During the peak of West Asia conflict aggravated by Iran’s Hormuz hurdle, the Trump-led US administration temporarily waived off sanctions in early March this year allowing India to import crude oil and LPG from Russia for a month.
Of late, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has categorically made it loud and clear that the month-long waiver to India would not be extended.
Given such a dilemmatic circumstance, an undone India is said to be exploring ways and means either to continue the much-sought-after crude oil and LPG imports from Russia or from the avenues that are free from US-levied sanctions.
Sources revealed that the authorised Indian oil refiners are holding hectic talks for future imports from the possible countries including Russia.
Sources also informed that India has recently imported around 800,000 tonnes of LPG supplies from Russia, Australia and USA during the month-long ad hoc waiver duration.
Notably, the Trump-led USA regime has reportedly been a key LPG exporter to India following a trade deal inked with India in November 2025 that reportedly mandates to supply 10 per cent of India’s total LPG requirement in 2026.
Besides, Canada would be another country to supply LPG to India, while negotiations are also on with Angola to source the same essential commodity, sources added.
Sources further informed that, West Asia catered to around 60 per cent of India’s crude oil imports prior to the tensions broke out on February 28 this year there.
Even though the US-granted ad hoc sanctions waiver allowed India to import crude oil from Russia for a month in March, the volume drastically came down to 30 per cent, as per the analysis made by Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).
CREA’s report also stated, “India was the second-highest buyer of Russian fossil fuels after China in March 2026, importing a total $5.8 billion of Russian hydrocarbons”.
However, the Government of India (GoI) has reportedly “diversified its energy imports and procures oil from wherever iy is commercially viable”, as told to media persons by Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal.
Also, Petroleum and Natural Gas Secretary Neeraj Mittal, while addressing a recent conference, informed, “India has diversified its crude procurement sources to 41 countries compared to 27 countries a few years ago, while LNG is currently imported from 30 countries compared to six earlier. Currently, India imports LPG from 16 countries compared to 10 earlier”.
Need to be mentioned here that, India reportedly imports up to 65 per cent of its annual LPG requirement of 33 million tonnes, while 90 per cent of these imports are dependent on West Asia.
Also need to be mentioned here that, nearly 340 million Indian households use LPG for domestic cooking purpose.
Despite the panic booking of LPG cylinders across India along with long queues of consumers are being witnessed outside the authorised retail LPG distribution centres, the latest statement reportedly issued by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas averred,“No dry-outs have been reported at LPG distributorships, while LPG supply continues to be affected by the prevailing geopolitical situation”.
