India's crude oil import dipped to 16 per cent in the fiscal year ended March 31 as lower international rates but the dependency on overseas suppliers rose to a new high. India imported 232.5 million tonnes of crude oil, which is refined into fuels like petrol and diesel, in the 2023-24 fiscal (April 2023 to March 2024), almost the same as in the previous financial year, according to data released by oil ministry’s Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC).
India is estimated to be the world’s third largest oil importing and consuming nation, which has been able to add to its domestic production drop, raising its import dependence. As per the data, India paid $132.4 billion for the imports in FY24 as against $157.5 billion import bill in 2022-23.
“Import dependence of crude oil soared to 87.7 per cent in 2023-24, up from 87.4 per cent. However, the domestic crude oil production was almost unchanged at 29.4 million tonnes in 2023-24. Besides crude oil, India spent $23.4 billion on import of 48.1 million tonnes of petroleum products like LPG. It also exported 62.2 million tonnes of products for $47.4 billion,” the PPAC data showed.
Other than oil, India also imports gas in its liquid form, called LNG. After the price shock of 2022-23, import of 30.91 billion cubic meters of gas cost $13.3 billion in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2024. This compared with $17.1 billion spent on import of 26.3 bcm of gas in 2022-23 when energy prices shot up to record levels in the aftermath of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The data further showed that the net oil and gas import bill (crude oil plus petroleum product plus LNG import bill minus exports) stood at $121.6 billion in 2023-24, down from $144.2 billion. “Petroleum imports as 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 at 12 per cent in 2023-24 as compared to 14 per cent in the previous year,” the PPAC data showed.
India’s fuel consumption also rose 4.6 per cent to a record 233.3 million tonnes in the year ended March 31, 2023. This compared with 223 million tonnes consumption in 2022-23 and 201.7 million tonnes in 2021-22. “While the country is short in crude oil production, it has surplus refining capacity, which enables export of petroleum products like diesel. Against the consumption of 233.3 million tonnes, petroleum product production was 276.1 million tonnes in 2023-24,” it showed.
