agencies
India has substantially increased its crude oil imports from the US, with the country's share in India's crude basket hitting a record 14.3 per cent in December, commerce ministry data showed.
While Russia remained the top source of crude oil with a share of 21.2 per cent in December, India reduced its dependence on Iraq (16.9 per cent), UAE (6 per cent) and Kuwait (4.2 per cent) to accommodate more crude imports from the US.
In December, crude oil imports from the US shot up 93 per cent to 3.9 million MT. During the Trump presidency, India started buying crude from the US to address Washington's complaint about the trade surplus New Delhi enjoys.
President Trump, who pursued an “America First” approach, had been vocal about the perceived high tariff walls that India put and often called out the country terming it “tariff king”.
