India dropped to third place among buyers of Russian fossil fuels in December 2025 after Reliance Industries and state-owned refiners drastically cut crude oil imports, a European think tank said on Tuesday.According to data from the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), India’s imports of Russian hydrocarbons totaled 2.3 billion euros in December, up from 3.3 billion euros in November.
Turkey bought 2.6 billion euros worth of Russian hydrocarbons during the month, overtaking India to become the second-largest importer. China retained its position as the largest buyer, accounting for 48 percent of Russia’s export revenues from the top five importers, or about 6 billion euros.CREA said crude oil accounted for 78 percent of India’s Russian imports in December, which were worth 1.8 billion euros. Coal imports were worth 424 million euros, while oil products accounted for 82 million euros. India’s Russian crude oil imports fell 29 per cent month-on-month to their lowest level since the imposition of the price cap policy, despite a slight increase in the country’s total crude oil imports.The cut was mainly led by Reliance Industries’ Jamnagar refinery, which halved its intake of Russian crude in December. “The entirety of their imports were supplied by Rosneft, albeit from cargoes purchased before US Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctions were imposed,” CREA said, according to news agency PTI. State-owned refiners also reduced Russian imports by about 15 percent during the month.The cuts follow fresh US sanctions on major Russian oil producers Rosneft and Lukoil, aimed at restricting funding for the Ukraine war. As a result, companies such as Reliance Industries, HPCL, HPCL-Mittal Energy and Mangalore Refinery have stopped or reduced Russian oil purchases, while Indian Oil Corporation has continued purchasing from non-sanctioned Russian entities.Russia supplied about 25 percent of India’s crude imports in December, down from 35 percent in November. India had emerged as a major buyer of subsidized Russian oil after Western countries imposed sanctions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, sharply increasing Moscow’s share in India’s crude oil basket.