NEW DELHI: India’s crude oil import bill is likely to fall by 21.7 per cent this fiscal to US$ 88 billion on falling international oil prices, according to latest Petroleum Ministry estimates.
India, which is 80 per cent import dependent to meet its oil needs, spent US$ 112.748 billion in 2014-15 on import of 189.43 million tonnes of crude oil. In rupee terms, it came to Rs 687,369 crore.
For the current fiscal, the ministry’s Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) has estimated US$ 88.203 billion spending on import of 188.23 million tonnes of crude oil. In rupee terms, it comes to Rs 548,655 crore.
India had paid a record US$ 144.293 billion on import of 184.79 million tonnes of crude oil in 2012-13.
The import bill came down marginally to US$ 142.962 billion in the following year even though the volume of oil imported went up to 189.238 million tonnes, but the slide in international oil prices from US$ 115 per barrel to less than US$ 50, helped bring it down to US$ 112.748 billion in 2014-15, according to PPAC data.
India’s crude oil import bill in 1998-99 was US$ 3.518 billion on import of 39.8 million tonnes of crude oil and climbed to US$ 9.2 billion in the following year on import of 57.8 million tonnes of crude oil.
It stayed below US$ 20 billion for next five years. It started to climb from 2004-05 and saw the real jump happening in 2010-11 when it soared to US$ 100.08 billion on import of 163.5 million tonnes of crude oil from US$ 79.876 billion in 2009-10.
In the first two months of current fiscal, India imported 32.99 million tonnes of crude oil for US$ 13.806 billion.
PPAC said while the April-May 2015 imports are based on actuals and for June 2015 to March 2016, the imports are estimated at US$ 65 per barrel and foreign currency exchange rate of Rs 62 to a US dollar.
“If crude prices increases by US$ one per barrel, net import bill increases by Rs 7,096 crore (USD 1.14 billion). And if exchange rate increases by Rs 1 to a US$, net import bill increases by Rs 7,440 crore (USD 1.18 billion),” it said.
