Economy
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The central government is considering accepting Russia’s offer to purchase crude oil and other commodities at a discounted price with payments made through a rupee-rouble transaction.
“Russia is offering oil and other commodities at a heavy discount. We will be happy to take that. We have some issues like tanker, insurance cover and oil blends to be resolved. Once we have that we will take the discount offer,” a senior official from the government was quoted in a report by Reuters.
India meets 2 per cent-3 per cent of its total crude oil imports from Russia. However, New Delhi is looking to enhance this share if it can help in cutting down its rising energy bill.
The western sanctions on Moscow do not prevent India from importing their fuel. Sources have in fact told Reuters that Russia’s Surgutneftegaz permitted Chinese buyers to obtain oil without any letters of credit (LC) payment guarantees to bypass the aforementioned sanctions.
“If we can get cheaper fertiliser from Russia then we will take that. It would help in easing some fiscal concerns,” an official in the know of developments was quoted by Reuters.