Nearly 15% of India’s $47.28 billion imports from Russia in the first half of 2026-27 comprise items other than crude oil and petroleum products, according to latest government data. Russia is India’s second largest merchandise import source after China.
Because of disruptions in West Asia because of ongoing war situation, they added, requesting anonymity, while global geopolitical situations impact both energy and commodities prices, India is also de-risking its supply chains, mainly inputs and intermediate goods, particularly.
The surge in merchandise imports are results of both price and quantity factors, according to experts.
Energy is India’s key import from Russia. India has recently seen a surge in demand for Indian goods in Russian market. Bilateral trade between India and Russia reached a record $68.7 billion in 2024-25, before falling to around $60 billion in 2025-26, according to government data. Indian exports to Russia were less than $5 billion, while Russian exports to India stood around $55 billion in FY26.
These items include meat and meat products, fish and aquatic products, vegetables, coffee, tea and spices, experts said.
In 2025-26, India had imported Russian crude oil worth $40.82 billion and petroleum products of $3.56 billion. India and EAEU had been discussing greater economic cooperation since 2017. The matter was also discussed in July 2024 during the 22nd annual bilateral summit between Russia and India in Moscow.
Because in the first six months of 2026-27 it is already 90% of the $44.38 billion imported in full 2025-26, experts said, quoting the available trade data, india’s import of Russian crude and petroleum products is expected to surge in the current financial year. At that time, the two leaders – President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Narendra Modi – aspired for the establishment of the EAEU-India free trade area.
