We imported from Russia just 0.419 million mt in the April-December period of the current fiscal year 2021-22 (April-March). That is just 0.2% of the total requirement.

Oil imports by Asia's third-largest economy rose 5% from January and were up 24% from a low base in February 2021, when a refinery at Bathinda in northern India was fully shut for maintenance, data showed.

"Russia's oil and petroleum product exports to India have approached $1 billion, and there are clear opportunities to increase this figure," said Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, according to a statement shared by Russia's embassy in India late on Friday.

The state government of Karnataka (India) has proposed the construction of a 2 GW underground electricity storage project in the Sharavathi basin for an investment of INR53.9bn (US$700m).

Russia and India in December signed new energy cooperation agreements, including a contract for Rosneft to ship almost 15 million barrels of crude to India in 2022, according to government and company statements.

India also plans to simplify the authorisation process for green hydrogen production (including a single portal for all clearances and land provision) and to provide federal financial support to develop electrolysers.

"In the current scenario, [the] demand for oil has outpaced production growth as economies slowly rebound from the worst of the pandemic, leaving the market with a small buffer to mitigate an oil supply shock," Singh said.

The partnership between the two countries has led to the joint work on several agreements and Memorandum of Understanding in several areas, including: The Economy, Climate Change and Houbara Conservation, Industries and Advanced Technologies, Low Carbon Hydrogen Developments and Investments, Food Security, Financial Services, and Issuance of India-UAE Joint Stamps.

India's coal demand stood at 905.88 million mt in 2020-21, with domestic supply contributing 690.89 million mt and imports at 214.99 million mt, the ministry data showed.

Over January-November, India's crude imports rose 5.8% year on year to 191.8 million mt, or 4.2 million b/d.