India is actively pursuing the Northern Sea Route (NSR) with Russia for steady supply of oil

Russian oil sales to India have been consistent over the past year, and the trend is expected to remain the same even during the year ahead. India imports as much as 88 percent of its oil needs, according to a report by Sputnik.

India receives from 1 to 1.4 million barrels of Russian oil per day out of its total energy imports of 5 million barrels per day, an Indian energy official has said.

That volume of imports was registered last year and remains the same this year, Pankaj Jain, Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, told Russian media.

“Out of the 5 million barrels per day that we get from around the world, approximately 1 to 1.4 million barrels come from Russia. This happened last year and continues this year,” Jain said.

In total, India imported 85 to 88 percent of its energy last year, the Indian official added.

Jain also explained that there is "some flexibility" in oil supply volumes from month to month.

“There are ups and downs. We have summer and winter, in some months we need more [oil], in others less,” he noted, saying Western media reports of decrease in supply from Russia were unreliable.

"They sensationalize some news," he said.

Earlier, Indian Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri said that India is always ready to import energy resources from Russia and there is no talk of reducing purchases.

"Trade between the Russian Federation and India in the energy sector has always been very positive.” Puri said, adding that he had read a "misleading headline" in the media that “Oil imports from Russia hit record low.”