India's September crude oil import bill rises 47% to $15.4bn

Business Oct 16, 2026

India's crude oil import bill just got a lot pricier, up 47% from last year, hitting $15.4 billion in September.

Even though we brought in 7% more oil (21.7 million metric tons), global tensions in West Asia have pushed costs way up.

Meanwhile, LNG (liquefied natural gas) imports actually dropped by 8.5%, but the bill for that stayed steady at $1.2 billion.

Oil and gas import bill widens

With higher import costs, India's net oil and gas import bill widened nearly 40% to $13.4 billion last month.

Petroleum product exports took a hit too, down 24.2% by volume, but interestingly, export earnings still rose by 20%, landing at $4.8 billion.