Prospects for partnership between Russia and India in the energy sector

Alexey Belogoryev, Research and Development Director of the Institute for Energy and Finance, commented to the Oil and Gas Information Agency (Tyumen Region) on the prospects for energy cooperation between Russia and India.

As Alexey Belogoryev notes, India is taking over from China the role of a key, or at least one of the main drivers of long‑term growth in demand for energy resources.

According to his assessment, for the Russian fuel and energy sector, India is primarily a market for not only energy resources (oil, coal, nuclear fuel, and, in the future, liquefied petroleum gases (LPG) and LNG) but also for energy services and technologies. He names the Vostok Oil project and NOVATEK’s new initiatives, including the Murmansk LNG project, as promising areas.

“Investing in India’s regional transport and distribution infrastructure (in the gas and petroleum products markets) could also be economically effective, provided that Russian companies are involved in its design, construction, and supply of materials and equipment, and that future demand is ‘tied’ to Russian export supplies,” Alexey Belogoryev says.

According to the expert, for a long time, logistics has been the main limiting factor for bilateral cooperation — the excessive geographical distance from Russian ports compared to Europe and East Asia. However, since 2022, Russia has lost access to most of its closest markets, and the transport costs to India have come to be seen as acceptable. He expects a similar metamorphosis in the LNG export economy after the EU embargo is introduced on January 1, 2027.

In this regard, Alexey Belogoryev reminds us that India is a highly competitive market with many major hydrocarbon exporters.

“It is noteworthy that, having lost LNG supplies from Qatar and the UAE in March 2026, India was able to quickly make up for them through purchases in Africa, North and South America, despite the acute shortage on the global market. European countries and China failed to do so, but New Delhi managed to,” the expert noted. “Moreover, Indian importers are highly sensitive to sanctions. This has already led to a sharp decline in purchases of Russian oil in winter.” Since March, due to the crisis in the Persian Gulf, its imports, on the contrary, have been breaking records, but it is possible that this is just a temporary phenomenon in response to the actual easing of US anti‑Russian sanctions.”

According to the expert, the current task for Russian exporters is not just to enter the Indian market, but also to secure a strong foothold there, taking into account the mechanism for circumventing sanctions imposed by third countries.

Alexey Belogoryev draws attention to the fact that in terms of high technologies, the main area of cooperation remains nuclear power generation, including small modular nuclear power plants (SMNPs).