• Russia is actively pursuing India as a new market for its liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports, according to a senior official.
  • The two nations are also counting on expanding their long-standing nuclear energy cooperation, with talks advancing on new power plant sites.
  • The efforts signal a continued deepening of strategic energy ties, with India prioritizing security and price stability while Russia seeks reliable export markets.

Russia is actively exploring exports of liquefied natural gas to India and seeking to expand nuclear energy cooperation with the country, First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov was quoted as saying by the RIA news agency. The comments, made during a bilateral business forum, underscore a concerted push to move beyond oil and solidify a broader, strategic energy partnership.

Manturov framed India as a key future export market for Russian LNG, a move that aligns with New Delhi's own drive to secure additional gas supplies. India imports nearly 90% of its oil and is increasingly seeking diversified LNG sources to meet needs for cooking, fertilizer production, and as a cleaner alternative to coal in some power and industrial applications. For Russia, finding new buyers for its energy is a critical economic imperative amid shifting global trade flows.

On the nuclear front, the state-owned corporation Rosatom is in advanced talks for new Russian-designed nuclear power plant sites in India, according to people familiar with the discussions. Rosatom remains the only foreign firm whose reactor designs are currently being built in India. The flagship Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant has become a cornerstone of this cooperation, with its units consistently exceeding their 1,000 MW design capacity. The plant delivered 100 billion kWh to India’s power grid as of April 2024, a figure expected to rise to 106 billion kWh by March 2025.

The potential LNG deal would represent a natural progression in a relationship that accelerated dramatically after 2022, when Western sanctions pushed Russia to seek Asian markets for its energy and India eagerly capitalized on heavily discounted crude oil. Those oil imports have contributed significantly to Indian budget stability. Now, both governments are emphasizing a transition from transactional trades to longer-term, strategic agreements encompassing oil, nuclear, fertilizers, and now gas.

A major hurdle for any significant LNG deal will be infrastructure and financing, according to analysts. Furthermore, Russia will have to compete on price and reliability with India's other LNG partners, including the US and Qatar. However, long-term contracts for gas and nuclear power are seen by New Delhi as a crucial hedge against volatile global energy prices, which can pressure the rupee's stability and drive inflation. Efforts to reach a spokesperson for India's oil ministry for comment on the LNG talks were not immediately successful.

The broader geopolitical context looms over these negotiations. India continues to walk a delicate line, balancing its relations with Russia to maintain strategic autonomy and access cheaper energy resources, while simultaneously resisting pressure from Western nations to curb those ties. For both sides, the incentives for a deeper energy marriage appear to outweigh the perceived risks.