MOSCOW, September 8. /TASS/. India is unlikely to reduce imports of Russian oil in the near future, authors of joint research by Yakov and Partners consultancy (formerly McKinsey in Russia) and the Delovaya Rossiya (Business Russia) organization released in the run-up to the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) believe.

"Imports of oil to India from Russia reached its peak level in December 2022. It is unlikely to go down in the near future amid the current geopolitical environment," the research said.

Trade turnover between Russia and India soared more than three-fold in 2022 to $39 bln mainly due to growth of imports of the Russian oil, experts said. In particular, supplies of oil and petroleum products from Russia to India in money terms climbed to more than $24 bln in 2022 from $3.5 bln in the previous year, according to figures provided by the Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry mentioned in the research.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) projects that oil demand in India will rise by almost 80% by 2050 to 8.3 mln barrels per day from 4.7 mln barrels per day in 2021, while the demand for gas will increase almost three-fold from 66 to 170 bln cubic meters. Supplies of oil, petroleum products and coal from Russia may satisfy India’s growing demand for energy, experts noted.