Every war has consequences, and the Russia-Ukraine crisis will be no different for India as it will have a substantial economic impact on the country. India will be impacted as countries in conflict-Russia, and Ukraine accounts for 90 percent of India’s sunflower oil imports.
As the conflict between two adversaries is in no way cooling off, countries like India, whose principal industries are dependent on imports from both of them, will have a significant impact.
The present crisis will impact India’s Pharmaceutical sector, LNG Industry and crude oil bill. And that will not be all, as every Indian household will be affected as Russia-Ukraine accounts for 90 percent of India’s sunflower oil imports.
Important to note here is that sunflower is the second most imported oil in edible oils. In 2021 alone, India imported 1.89 million tonnes of sunflower oil, out of which 20 percent came from Russia and 70 percent from Ukraine.
India’s other option for sunflower oil is Argentina which accounts for 10 percent of the total import. However, in moments of crisis between these adversaries, Argentina can’t be a viable option. It produces only 3.5 million tonnes of sunflower seeds which are far lesser than what Ukraine and Russia have as they make 17 and 15.5 million tonnes respectively.
Ukraine is an important business partner for India as it imports LNG and pharmaceutical products from them. Important to note here is that Ukraine was not able to send a single shipment of sunflower oil to India in the face of the crisis.
