How crude is losing ground as the biggest strain on India's forex reserves

Electronics, machinery, iron & steel and coal together accounted for just half of India's petroleum import bill in FY14. In FY19, they matched the value of oil imports

With crude prices soaring in global markets after the drone attacks on Saudi Aramco’s Abqaiq refinery, the world’s largest oil processing facility, questions have once again emerged on how prepared India is to face the consequential pressure on its forex reserves. Basically, has the nature of imports created bigger challenges for the Indian economy than the foreign exchange crisis of 2013-14, or have these challenges diminished?

The bar chart below is quite illustrative in this respect. It is drawn from RBI data on which the author has added in the percentages. Going by this list, the top five items India