EU ban on buying oil from Russia, India's $15 billion exports in danger

The European Union (EU) has taken a big decision regarding Russia. Under this, the EU has imposed new restrictions on oil coming indirectly from Russia. In such a situation, its effect can now be seen on India as well. According to the report, if it is a fact, this action of the European Union is cutting into India's $ 15 billion petroleum product export. This has been provided by the economic research institute Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI).

The 27 members of the EU have made this choice under their 18th sanctions package, in which severe actions have been imposed to cut down Russia's energy sector earnings. The European Union now will not import petroleum products produced from Russian crude oil from any third party country. This will impact nations such as India, Turkey and UAE, which import oil from Russia and process it and export diesel, petrol and aviation fuel to Europe.

Talking about the impact of this move of the European Union on India, GTRI founder Ajay Srivastava said that India's export of petroleum products worth about $ 5 billion will be directly affected. In the financial year 2023-24, India exported petroleum worth $ 19.2 billion to the European Union, which fell by 27.1% to $ 15 billion in 2024-25.

According to GTRI, India imported crude oil worth $ 50.3 billion from Russia in FY2025, which is one-third of the total oil imports ($ 143.1 billion). Srivastava said that India is doing legitimate trade with Russia, but its political influence is increasing in Western countries. In the coming times, India will have to strike a balance between economic interests and geopolitical pressure.