India sees room to add $14-15 bn annually in energy imports from US, says Commerce Secretary

Prime Minister Narendra Modi with US President Donald Trump

India has room to add another $14-15 billion worth of energy purchases from the US annually, which would be in line with the country’s strategy to diversify such imports, Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agarwal said on October 15.

“If you look at data. energy purchases from the US in the past seven to eight years have gone up. Our energy purchases in the past have also touched $23-24 billion. Right now, we are at an average of $12-13 billion annually. There is a headroom for $14-$15 billion, which we can purchase without worrying about configuration of refineries,” Agarwal said during a briefing.

Just last month, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal indicated that India may buy more oil from the US following repeated calls from President Donald Trump for New Delhi to lower purchase of Russian crude.

More import of oil and gas from the US is seen as a measure to the lower the trade deficit between India and America that stood at around $41 billion in FY25.

India’s exports to the US in FY25 increased nearly 12 percent to $86.51 billion.

Agarwal added, “there is a bilateral commitment and discussions…. As a country we would like to diversify our energy purchases that is the best strategy for a big country like India. So as a country we will be happy to buy more energy from the US subject to price and availability.”

After US and China, India is the third-largest consumer of crude oil in the world, with an import dependency of over 85 percent for the current fiscal.

Russia currently contributes over 30 percent of India’s total oil requirements compared to just 0.2 percent before the Ukraine war started in 2022.

Back in February 2025, India and the US had agreed to establish America as a leading supplier of crude oil and petroleum products and liquified natural gas (LNG) to the South Asian nation.

Trade talks

The commerce secretary said that an Indian team of negotiators is currently in the US this week to engage in discussions related to tariffs.

Agarwal clarified that these talks are not the same as the next round of negotiations for the proposed Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) between the two, the deadline for which is the Fall of this year.

“There is engagement between India and the US. Our negotiating team is already in the US to address some of these tariff issues,” he added.

The two nations opened talks for the proposed trade deal in March and have conducted five rounds of negotiations, with the last one held in July in the US.

But, following Trump's decision to double tariffs on India to 50 percent, the next round of trade talks slated for August 25 in New Delhi, was deferred.

The US's tariff move has left parts of India’s export basket exposed, though some key categories are insulated for now. Pharmaceuticals, petroleum and electronics are currently exempt from the steeper duty. Other sectors face higher costs and potential delivery disruptions as buyers reconsider orders or seek price relief.

Agarwal said that the impact of steeper tariffs on Indian exports will likely show up from September onwards, but it will be more pronounced in October.

“Around 45 percent of our exports remain outside tariff or on MFN (most favoured nation) rates, the rest 55 percent has higher tariffs, in those commodities definitely there will be some impact. But we need to wait for commodity level data to ascertain that impact,” Agarwal added.