Reliance lobbying helped India get US waiver on Russian oil: Reports
A report published this week revealed that intensive engagement by Reliance Industries leadership played a decisive role in securing the 30-day US waiver that allowed India to resume purchasing Russian crude oil, raising pointed questions about the blurred line between corporate dealmaking and Indian foreign policy.
From sanctions to waiver
The US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control issued the temporary waiver on March 5, permitting Indian refiners to buy Russian crude loaded onto vessels before that date, with an expiration of April 4. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent framed it as a "stop-gap measure" to ease supply pressures caused by the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz amid the US-Israeli military campaign against Iran.
As per Bloomberg's reports, it was Reliance's "commercial exertions which proved decisive" in obtaining the waiver, and the company also "made progress on deals involving Venezuelan interests".
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party had claimed the waiver as a win for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's energy diplomacy, but the Bloomberg account suggests it was corporate rather than governmental channels that moved the needle. Opposition figures in India have seized on the revelation, with critics questioning the autonomy of the country's foreign policy after an earlier Trump executive order had effectively prohibited India from buying Russian oil.
Refiners move fast
Following the waiver, Indian refiners moved swiftly. Indian Oil Corporation and Reliance each purchased roughly 10 million barrels of Russian crude from the spot market, with other refiners taking the remaining volumes, totalling about 30 million barrels, according to Bloomberg. The grades included Urals, ESPO, and Varandey, offered at premiums of $2 to $8 per barrel above Dated Brent, a reversal from the steep discounts that had characterised Russian crude sales in previous years. Reuters separately reported that state refiners alone had secured around 20 million barrels.
The broader reliance-Washington axis
The waiver episode fits into a broader pattern of Reliance deepening its commercial ties with Washington. In February, the company secured a US general license to directly purchase Venezuelan crude, helping replace sanctioned Russian barrels with discounted Venezuelan supply. Then on March 11, President Trump announced that Reliance would back "America First Refining," a new refinery project at the Port of Brownsville, Texas, calling it a "historic $300 billion deal," though the actual construction cost is estimated at $4 to $5 billion, and the scope of the figure remains unclear. Reliance has not publicly commented on the Texas project, and the final agreement has not been signed.
Bloomberg described Reliance's trajectory as going "from Trump foe to friend," noting that billionaire Mukesh Ambani's conglomerate is in talks with America First Refining on arrangements ranging from an equity stake to a 20-year offtake agreement.