'India can't just say we'll buy from somewhere else': Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Russian oil

India's Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that India cannot simply stop buying Russian oil and switch to other suppliers. The Union finance minister cited global supply constraints and the needs of the country's 1.4 billion people. He made the statement at the BusinessLine Changemaker Awards on Tuesday (Sep 22). This comes after Ukriane President Volodymyr Zelensky asked India to stop buying Russian oil. It also comes after US President Donald Trump signed the Lindsey O Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act into law. The legislation gives the US president powers to impose tariffs of up to 100 per cent on countries that are major buyers of Russian oil and gas.

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“India can get out of Russia and say all right I'm buying oil from somewhere else. The moment you come out the available pool which is limited is going to shoot up in price,” she said. “It poses a severe challenge no doubt, but I think we will have to keep India's interest topmost,” she said. Sitharaman said India would continue to source energy from different parts of the world, based on availability and suitability, and it will depend on India's domestic needs. “We will choose to source our energy requirement from every corner of the world, and that which suits us, suits not for anything else but for the availability,” she said.

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Explaining the situation, she said: "Today just look at it realistically with the attack in Saudi Arabia and some crossfire hit at some other Gulf-related refineries, the oil pool itself is coming down,” she said. “To replace all that we need 1.4 billion people, the requirement has to be met from so many different sources already we are diversifying our oil basket,” she added. “So if you have to pick it up from somewhere else where it is available which cannot be even with some tweaking be treated by our refineries, what good is that for and whose cause are we then serving?” she said. Sitharaman said the government therefore had to consider not just where crude was available, but also whether Indian refineries could process it.