AN INDIAN refinery part-owned by UK-based billionaire Lakshmi Mittal has bought four consignments of Russian crude carried on shadow fleet* tankers, according to a report in the Financial Times.

India has not signed up to sanctions imposed on Russia by the West in the wake of invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and the country remains a key destination for Russian oil exports.

New Delhi’s stance has met with disapprobation from the Trump administration, which has imposed a cumulative tariff of 50% on Indian goods in a bid to stop the purchases.

But according to analysis from Lloyd’s List Intelligence, the world’s third-largest oil importer remains heavily reliant on Russian oil, which it is able to procure at a discount. Some 65% of the trade is carried by the shadow fleet. 

The Guru Gobind Singh Refinery in Punjab — in which Mittal has a stake — has, in the year to date, bought at least four crude shipments worth around $280m transported on sanctioned vessels, the FT claims.

Among the ships involved in the trade is Samadha (IMO: 9286281), which is sanctioned by the EU but not the US.

Mittal is best-known as the executive chair of ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest integrated steel and mining group, and sits on the board of Goldman Sachs.

The development comes after Washington last week imposed sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil, the big two Russian oil producers.

* Lloyd’s List defines a tanker as being part of the Shadow Fleet if it engages in one or more deceptive shipping practices indicating that it is involved in the facilitation of sanctioned oil cargoes from Iran, Russia or Venezuela. Or it is sanctioned for participation in sanctioned oil trades or is sanctioned for links to a company that is sanctioned for facilitating the export of sanctioned oil.