India’s Russian Oil Imports Stay Strong in October — What It Means for Energy & Diplomacy

Introduction

The 24th of October 2025 in New Delhi — Shipping-tracker data from analytics company Kpler shows that India's imports of crude oil from Russia went up by a surprising amount in October. According to the data, India bought about 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) of Russian crude, which is about 250,000 bpd more than in September. This shows that trade between the two countries is still strong, even though pressure is growing from the West.

Strong Flows Even Though Promises

As part of larger trade and political moves, Donald Trump said earlier this month that India would "almost stop" buying Russian oil by the end of the year. India's imports are not going down, though, as shown by the Kpler figures; instead, they are going up. The writers of Kpler say that Trump's comments seem to be more "political pressure" than proof that New Delhi has changed its policy.

Why India Keeps Buying Oil from Russia

India has a lot of reasons to keep buying a lot of oil from Russia. First, Russian barrels have been sent to India at much lower prices than many of the other options. This makes them a good deal for refiners. Secondly, Indian refineries and supply chains have changed to be able to handle these grades more effectively, which includes Russia in the energy strategy. Third, moving away from Russia would cost more and cause problems with logistics.

Implications for trade and geopolitics

The timing of the increase is interesting: India seems to be sticking to its plan even though the US is putting more pressure on it to cut back on its oil imports from Russia. Sources say that Indian refiners are looking over their contracts with Russian crude because of the U.S. sanctions. For now, however, the flow is still going strong.

From a political point of view, this shows that India values energy security and economic realism more than pressure from other countries, while still keeping its long-standing strategic relationship with Russia.

What's Next

Analysts see a few ways this could go: India might cut back on its imports of Russian crude oil in the next few months if trade fees or stricter sanctions force it to. But it doesn't look like there will be a sharp drop right away because of the economic and social ties that are already in place. The situation is still changing. How flows change will depend on global sanctions, the economics of refiners, and India's energy policy.

In the short run, the rise in imports in October shows that India's energy partnership with Russia is still strong—for now.

Summary 

India ramped up Russian oil imports in October to nearly 1.8 m bpd, underscoring the strength of energy ties with Russia even amid U.S. and global sanctions.