India’s ‘richest families’ benefitting from reselling Russian oil, claims US

United States Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent claimed on Tuesday that some of India’s richest families were profiteering from New Delhi buying and reselling cheap Russian oil amid Moscow’s war on Ukraine, reported CNBC.

In an interview to the news channel, Bessent also claimed that India’s imports of Russian oil had jumped from less than 1% before the war, which began in February 2022, to 42%. The transactions have resulted in Indian businesses earning an estimated $16 billion in excess profits, he claimed.

“What I would call Indian arbitrage, buying cheap Russian oil and reselling it as product, has just sprung up during the war which is unacceptable,” Bessent said.

Before the war in Ukraine, less than 1% of India’s oil came from Russia. Now it is 42%.

The system is allowing India to profiteer by buying cheap Russian oil, reselling it, and pocketing $16B in excess profits.

This opportunistic arbitrage is unacceptable. pic.twitter.com/zp4FuKs9vJ— Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (@SecScottBessent) August 19, 2025

India emerged as Russia’s largest crude oil importer between 2023 and 2024, surpassing China. During this period, India’s share of Russian crude oil imports increased from 30% to 34%, while China’s share decreased from 32% to 26%.

Indian refiners, including Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries, have leveraged the discounted prices of Russian crude oil to ramp up imports,...

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