"Indian refineries imported 1.9 million metric tons (MMT) of crude oil from Iran in June 2017 and placed an order for 2.82 MMT in June 2018," Sputnik quoted Dharmendra Pradhan as saying on Monday.
Announcing this increased crude imports, he disproved reports published by global research agencies that India had cut down crude purchases from Iran due to American sanctions.
Presenting monthly details, Minister Pradhan informed parliament that Iranian crude imports had witnessed an 11.8% increase in March, 16.5% in April and 16% in May in comparison to the corresponding months of last year. However, the minister did not provide the amount of oil shipped from Iran during the current month.
The US has told countries to cut all imports of Iranian oil from November but India had mentioned that his country would look after its interests while deciding on oil imports.
SPUTNIK/MNA