A Ten-Year Reliance Deal With Rosneft Strengthens Moscow’s Energy Ties With New Delhi

Ambani is the richest man in Asia, with a fortune estimated at more than $100 billion. His conglomerate, Reliance Industries, has a presence in virtually every sector of the Indian economy. The empire’s crown jewel is its refining arm, which processes crude oil into fuel for the domestic market and for export. In recent years, Reliance has bought a large share of its crude from Russia at discounted prices—delivering Ambani colossal profits while simultaneously helping Moscow weather deepening international isolation.

Now, with President Donald Trump penalizing India for purchasing Russian oil and pressing New Delhi to diversify its energy supplies, the country’s most powerful businessman finds himself at the center of a diplomatic crisis.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Reliance has purchased roughly $33 billion worth of oil from Moscow—a figure not previously disclosed. That amounts to about 8% of all Russian oil sales during this period.

“That’s $33 billion going to the Kremlin,” said Tom Keatinge, director of the Centre for Finance and Security at the Royal United Services Institute in the UK. “You are financing the war.”

Reliance Industries stresses that “purchases of Russian crude do not reflect the company’s political position on the conflict” and that they “have always been fully compliant with international regulations.”

Since November, at least 17 tankers sanctioned by the EU or the UK for ties to Russia’s energy sector have docked at the Sikka port in Gujarat, owned by Reliance. “UK and EU sanctions have no extraterritorial effect and do not directly apply to companies outside those jurisdictions. Reliance can therefore accept such vessels for oil deliveries,” the company explained.

Back in 2021, Reliance purchased only $85 million worth of Russian crude. In 2022, as Russia annexed Ukrainian regions and shelled major cities, that figure rose to $5.5 billion. By 2023, purchases peaked at $11.7 billion before falling to $9.8 billion in 2024. Between January 1 and August 12 this year, according to calculations confirmed by two independent experts, Reliance bought an additional $6.2 billion worth of Russian oil.

These figures provide the most precise picture yet of Reliance’s role in Moscow’s global oil trade, which has helped Vladimir Putin withstand Western sanctions and sustain his war against Ukraine. Last month, Donald Trump said India’s oil purchases “fuel the Russian war machine” and doubled the country’s tariff rate to 50%, even as he gave Putin the red-carpet treatment at a summit in Alaska.

The Indian government insists that its purchases break no laws and recalls that US officials once encouraged New Delhi to buy Russian oil to stabilize global prices. The foreign ministry has called Trump’s tariffs “unfair, unjustified and unacceptable,” stressing that the decision to purchase is driven solely by market factors. Mukesh Ambani, a close ally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has remained silent as US-India relations sink to their lowest point in decades.

Last week, US negotiators arrived in New Delhi in an effort to revive stalled trade talks, but Russian oil remains the central obstacle. Trump has made it clear he will not sign a trade deal with India unless it significantly reduces its purchases. According to two people familiar with the closed-door discussions, Indian representatives have in recent weeks privately signaled a willingness to scale back volumes, but cannot announce it publicly for fear of domestic political backlash.

Modi’s office and India’s foreign ministry did not respond to requests for comment. Neither Trump nor his key economic advisers, who have been sharply critical of India, have mentioned Reliance by name. Yet according to Kpler, a company that tracks maritime shipments, Reliance is the largest Indian buyer of Russian crude—and is likely to keep that status for the foreseeable future. In December, the company signed a ten-year deal with Rosneft, Russia’s sanctioned state oil giant, to supply 500,000 barrels a day, worth roughly $13 billion annually.

“If Western countries do not expand sanctions regimes to make such purchases illegal, there is no reason to change course,” said Benjamin Hilgenstock, head of macroeconomic research and strategy at the Kyiv School of Economics. “This lucrative business can continue.”