Indian petroleum export earnings hit as Red Sea conflict intensifies

Outbound petro shipments contributed $57 billion to India's coffers in FY23

The intensifying conflict in the Red Sea has started taking a toll on India’s overseas sales of petroleum products, a key contributor to India’s export growth — after several ships were forced to take a much longer route to deliver fuels to western markets, according to shipping data and industry officials. The hit, from attacks by Yemen-based Houthi rebels on ships using the Red Sea route to supply oil, is sizeable on sales of diesel to Europe, which accounts for over a quarter of India’s total fuel exports in volume terms.

The disruption in Indian supplies of transport fuels to western