Explained: Why Indian consumers don't gain from Russian crude oil

Supplies from Russia come at a substantial discount to global prices, but Indian pump prices have remained unchanged for nearly ten months

Here is a puzzle. The gap between the delivered Russian crude oil rate and the average price of the Indian crude oil basket was as high as $16 a barrel in June, and averaged $7 a barrel in the April 2022-March 2023 period, according to government data. Russian crude averaged $89 a barrel this fiscal, until January, while the Indian crude basket averaged $96 per barrel. Russia has emerged as one of India’s top crude suppliers this past year. Yet pump prices of petrol and diesel have been unchanged for nearly 10 months.

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