India's oil import bill to fall 21.7% to $88 bn

India's crude oil import bill is likely to fall by 21.7 per cent this fiscal to $88 billion on falling international oil prices, according to latest Petroleum Ministry estimates.

India, which is 80 per cent import dependent to meet its oil needs, spent $112.748 billion in 2014-15 on import of 189.43 million tonnes of crude oil.

In rupee terms, it came to Rs 687,369 crore (Rs 6,873.69 billion).

For the current fiscal, the ministry's Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell has estimated $88.203 billion spending on import of 188.23 million tonnes of crude oil.

In rupee terms, it comes to Rs 548,655 crore (Rs 5,486.55 billion).

India had paid a record $144.293 billion on import of 184.79 million tonnes of crude oil in 2012-13.

The import bill came down marginally to $142.962 billion in the following year even though the volume of oil imported went up to 189.238 million tonnes, but the slide in international oil prices from $115 per barrel to less than $50, helped bring it down to $112.748 billion in 2014-15, according to PPAC data.

India's crude oil import bill in 1998-99 was $3.518 billion on import of 39.8 million tonnes of crude oil and climbed to $9.2 billion in the following year on import of 57.8 million tonnes of crude oil.

It stayed below $20 billion for next five years.

It started to climb from 2004-05 and saw the real jump happening in 2010-11 when it soared to $100.08 billion on import of 163.5 million tonnes of crude oil from $79.876 billion in 2009-10.

In the first two months of current fiscal, India imported 32.99 million tonnes of crude oil for $13.806 billion.

PPAC said while the April-May 2015 imports are based on actuals and for June 2015 to March 2016, the imports are estimated at $65 per barrel and foreign currency exchange rate of Rs 62 to a US dollar.

"If crude prices increases by $1 per barrel, net import bill increases by Rs 7,096 crore ($1.14 billion).

And if exchange rate increases by Rs 1 to a dollar, net import bill increases by Rs 7,440 crore ($1.18 billion)," it said.