India has faced several problems that will make it impossible to further increase the volume of Russian oil supplies.
Source. Bloomberg writes about it.
In particular, the country's refineries are not ready to work with Russian fuel, and refinery management is afraid of increasing dependence on Russian oil amid sanctions. In addition, a long-term increase in fuel supplies from Russia could affect relations with other partners, India fears.
None of the Indian refineries that are currently processing Russian oil were designed to work with this fuel: they were built to process Indian oil, which has less sulfur, Bloomberg notes. Further ramping up the refining of Russian oil will either lead to the production of large quantities of fuel oil or to the need for expensive re-equipment, which plant managers do not want to spend money on, the agency notes.
India also does not want to become too dependent on one supplier, whose exports may face disruptions if sanctions are tightened. For this reason, India is ready to increase purchases of Russian oil by no more than 2-3%.
Another problem India is facing is the lack of commercial tanks needed to mix different grades of oil. Such blending could make Russian oil more suitable for Indian refineries.
Also, the country's refinery executives told Bloomberg that they fear that a long-term switch to Russian fuel would damage relations with partners, especially in the Middle East.
In May, India's oil imports from Russia hit a record, Bloomberg notes. According to the analytical company Kpler, 46% of India's oil imports came from Russia in May. Before the war in Ukraine, this figure did not exceed 2%.