Russia to increase energy supplies to India

Russia has indicated it is prepared to increase deliveries of oil and LNG to India, in order to maintain support for New Delhi’s fertiliser requirements, as global energy markets remain unsettled by the ongoing conflict in Iran.

During a two-day visit to the Indian capital, Russian deputy prime minister Denis Manturov held talks with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and senior ministers including external affairs minister S Jaishankar, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and national security adviser Ajit Doval. At the talks, The Hindu reports that discussions centred on sustaining energy flows while also expanding cooperation in fertilisers.

The visit forms part of broader preparations ahead of India’s hosting of the forthcoming BRICS summit – expected to take place some time in July or August – and the annual India-Russia summit which is also scheduled to take place in Russia later in the year.

According to The Hindu, India’s external affairs ministry said the two sides also exchanged views on regional and global developments, including the conflict in West Asia. Russia stated that supplies of mineral fertilisers to India had risen by 40%, and signalled its readiness to continue meeting demand. A joint project to produce carbamide (urea) remains under development.

Moscow placed particular emphasis on the oil and gas sector, however, confirming that Russian companies have the capacity to steadily expand crude and LNG exports to the Indian market as needed. In addition, the Russian official also signalled an intention to deepen nuclear cooperation with India alongside broader engagement in industrial, space and educational projects.

As of March 2026, India’s imports of Russian crude oil had surged sharply from the month before with some sources pointing at a 90% increase month on month. In turn, this pushed Russia’s share to roughly 44% of India’s total crude oil imports for the month – or around 2.03mn barrels per day (bpd), up from about 1.04mn bpd in February.

LNG supplies, while not recorded in the same manner as oil, indicate that Russia’s overall LNG exports rose in the first quarter of 2026, to around 8.6mn tonnes globally, though this was not broken down by destination. As such while supplies to India are officially set to increase according to Business Standard, the exact volumes to India in Q1 2026 are not readily available.

The US had previously imposed penalty tariffs on India in August 2025 and pressed for a reduction in Russian energy imports in an effort to extract concessions from Moscow over the war in Ukraine. However, against the backdrop of tightening global energy supplies, Washington issued a temporary 30-day waiver on March 6, thus permitting Indian refiners to resume their purchases of Russian crude.