India's trade deficit with Russia grows seven-fold to $34.79 billion

MIND THE GAP: Ever-growing trade gap due to consistent rise in imports from Russia after its stand-off with Ukraine

The rising dependence on discounted crude oil has resulted in India’s trade deficit with Russia hitting the second-highest place last year, after China, reveals Department of Commerce data.

From April through January 2022-23 (FY23), India’s maximum trade deficit was with China, at $71.58 billion. This was followed by Russia, where the deficit expanded sevenfold — from $4.86 billion in April-January of 2021-22 (FY22) to $34.79 billion during the same period in FY23.

Of the $37.27 billion imports from Russia, two-thirds of the value of goods imported from the country was of crude oil, shows data.

The ever-growing trade gap is