Oil imports rose further and coal imports surged to $6.4 billion in June from an average of $2.6 billion per month in FY22, reflecting the power crunch in the country.
In fact, a decade ago, in FY12, a similar trend was seen when crude prices surged and coal was in short supply, which pushed up coal and oil imports by 40% and 33% (2-year CAGR) respectively.
As import demand for crude, coal and gold are price inelastic, they would continue to add to the overall import bill this fiscal.