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India's crude imports fell 16 percent in the fiscal year ended March 31 due to falling international rates, but dependence on foreign suppliers hit new highs, official data showed.
India imported 232.5 million tonnes of crude oil, which is refined into fuels like petrol and diesel, in the 2023-24 financial year (April 2023 to March 2024), almost the same as the previous fiscal year. But data from the oil ministry's Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) shows it paid US$132.4 billion for imports in FY2024, while paying an import bill of US$157.5 billion in 2022-23. .
The country, the world's third-largest oil importer and consumer, has been able to reduce its domestic production, increasing its import dependence.
According to PPAC, import dependence of crude oil increased from 87.4 percent to 87.7 percent in 2023-24.
Domestic crude oil production in 2023-24 remained almost unchanged at 29.4 million tonnes.
Apart from crude oil, India spent US$23.4 billion on importing 48.1 million tonnes of petroleum products such as LPG. It also exported 62.2 million tonnes of products worth US$47.4 billion.
Apart from oil, India also imports gas in liquid form, known as LNG.
After the price shock for 2022-23, the cost of importing 30.91 billion cubic meters of gas stood at US$13.3 billion in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024.
This compared with US$17.1 billion spent on importing 26.3 bcm of gas in 2022-23, when energy prices hit record levels following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Net oil and gas import bill (crude oil plus petroleum products plus LNG import bill minus exports) stood at US$121.6 billion in 2023-24 from US$144.2 billion.
Petroleum imports as a percentage of India's gross imports (in value terms) stood at 25.1 per cent, down from 28.2 per cent in 2022-23.
Similarly, petroleum exports as a percentage of the country's gross exports came down to 12 per cent in 2023-24, compared to 14 per cent last year.
India's fuel consumption rose 4.6 percent to a record 233.3 million tonnes in the year ending March 31, 2023.
This compared with 223 million tonnes in 2022-23 and 201.7 million tonnes in 2021-22.
While the country's crude oil production is low, it has surplus refining capacity that enables the export of petroleum products such as diesel.
PPAC data shows petroleum product production stood at 276.1 million tonnes in 2023-24 against consumption of 233.3 million tonnes.