India witnessed a sixteen percent decrease in crude oil imports during the fiscal year ending on March 31, attributed to a decline in international prices. However, despite this reduction, the country’s reliance on foreign suppliers increased.
Data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) of the oil ministry revealed that India imported 232.5 million tons of crude oil, used for refining into fuels such as petrol and diesel, during the 2023-24 fiscal year (from April 2023 to March 2024), a figure almost identical to the previous financial year.
The expenditure on these imports decreased to $132.4 billion in FY24 from $157.5 billion in 2022-23. India’s import dependence on crude oil increased to 87.7 percent in 2023-24, up from 87.4 percent.
The domestic production of crude oil remained nearly unchanged at 29.4 million tons in 2023-24. Apart from crude oil, India also spent $23.4 billion on importing 48.1 million tons of petroleum products such as LPG. It also exported 62.2 million tons of products worth $47.4 billion. Additionally, India imports liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Petroleum imports accounted for 25.1 percent of India’s gross imports in terms of value, down from 28.2 percent in 2022-23. Similarly, petroleum exports represented 12 percent of the country’s gross exports in 2023-24, compared to 14 percent in the previous year.
Fuel consumption in India surged by 4.6 percent to a record 233.3 million tons in the year ended March 31, 2023, compared to 223 million tons in 2022-23 and 201.7 million tons in 2021-22.
As reported by Firstpost, although India faces a shortfall in crude oil production, it possesses surplus refining capacity, enabling it to export petroleum products such as diesel. In contrast to the consumption of 233.3 million tonnes, the production of petroleum products reached 276.1 million tonnes in 2023-24, as per PPAC data.
