India’s US crude oil imports jump 270% amid trade talks: Reports
New Delhi: India's crude oil imports from the United States surged by more than 270% year-on-year during the first four months of 2025, as reported by The Indian Express. This sharp increase coincides with intensified trade negotiations between New Delhi and Washington, which are now in the final stages of finalizing an interim deal expected by July 9.
According to data from the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCIS), India imported 6.31 million tonnes of US crude between January and April 2025, up from 1.69 million tonnes in the same period last year. The US now accounts for 7% of India’s total oil imports, up from just 2% a year earlier.
In value terms, imports rose to $3.78 billion from approximately $1 billion in the year-ago period, with oil price fluctuations playing a significant role in the increase.
The report notes that India is increasing its US energy purchases as part of a broader effort to reduce its trade surplus with America and to secure more diversified and geopolitically stable sources of energy. Imports from the US rose by 63% year-on-year in April alone, helping narrow the trade surplus to $3.1 billion from $3.4 billion in April 2024.
Officials suggest this move could offer India strategic leverage over other oil-supplying nations in West Asia, especially amid regional tensions. Currently, India depends on imports for over 88% of its crude oil needs.
US President Donald Trump has publicly endorsed this energy alignment. During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US earlier this year, Trump expressed hopes that the US would become India's leading supplier of oil and gas to help bridge the bilateral trade gap.
In April 2025, US crude accounted for 12% of India’s monthly oil import, up from just 4.6% in April 2024 and 4.7% in March 2025, indicating a steep upward trend.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Niqab incident: Nitish Kumar perhaps revealing his true colours, says J-K CM
Srinagar (PTI): Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday criticised his Bihar counterpart over the niqab incident and said that Nitish Kumar might be slowly revealing his true nature.
"Nitish Kumar, who was once considered a secular leader, may be slowly showing his true colours," Abdullah told reporters here on the sidelines of a function.
Abdullah said Kumar removing the face veil of a Muslim woman doctor was wrong and cannot be justified by any means.
"We have seen this kind of incident here several years ago. Have you forgotten how Mehbooba Mufti removed the burqa of a legitimate voter inside a polling station? That act was wrong, and this act (of Kumar) is also wrong.
"If the (Bihar) chief minister did not want to hand over the order to her (Muslim woman), they could have kept her aside. However, to humiliate her like this is totally wrong," the Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said.
Kumar stirred a huge controversy after he removed the face veil of a Muslim woman at a function earlier this week.
