Berlin: The Indian government does not intend to cut oil imports from Iran due to US-backed sanctions and the recent decline in purchases were due to payments, insurance and logistics problems, Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai said yesterday.
“We will continue to buy oil from Iran,” Mathai, who is part of a high-level delegation led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Germany, told reporters here.
The foreign secretary said import decisions were taken by the oil marketing companies on commercial basis and the government had no role in a recent decline in purchases from Iran.
“There are banking problems. There are insurance problem. It is related to logistics and management of oil,” Mathai said.
Nearly 12 percent of India’s oil imports come from Iran. The majority of the purchases are done by refiners like Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals and Essar Oil.
IANS
