Explainer: How deeper energy cooperation within BRICS can help India diversify crude oil supplies, strengthen energy security, expand renewable energy partnerships, secure critical minerals and reduce vulnerability to global energy shocks.
New Delhi: As India prepares to host the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi on September 12-13, energy security is emerging as one of the most important economic and strategic issues for the grouping. For India, the BRICS platform offers an opportunity to strengthen crude oil and gas supplies, diversify energy sources, expand cooperation in renewables and emerging technologies, and build more resilient energy supply chains.
The timing is significant. India remains heavily dependent on imported crude oil, while geopolitical conflicts and disruptions in key shipping routes have made global energy markets increasingly vulnerable. Recent disruptions in the Middle East have further highlighted the risks associated with excessive dependence on a limited number of supply routes.
India imports more than 90% of its crude oil requirements, making energy security a critical component of economic stability.
BRICS brings producers and consumers together
The expanded BRICS grouping provides India with access to some of the world’s major energy producers as well as large energy-consuming economies.
Russia and Saudi Arabia are among the world’s major hydrocarbon producers, while the UAE, Iran and Brazil are also important players in global energy markets. China and India, meanwhile, are among the world’s largest energy consumers.
This combination gives BRICS the potential to become an important platform for cooperation on oil, gas, electricity, renewables, hydrogen, biofuels and critical minerals.
India’s own BRICS energy agenda has three broad priorities: energy security and sustainability, energy access and equity, and technology and innovation.
Russian oil gives India a major strategic advantage
The most immediate benefit for India is greater flexibility in sourcing crude oil.
Russia has become India’s largest crude supplier. In July 2026, Russian crude accounted for more than half of India’s total oil imports, according to trade data cited by Reuters. The shift has been driven partly by disruptions to Middle Eastern supplies.
For India, maintaining access to multiple suppliers is important because it reduces the risk of a supply shock from any single region.
BRICS can potentially provide a wider network through which India can engage with Russia, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Brazil and other energy-producing countries.
However, this also creates a challenge: excessive dependence on any one supplier is itself a risk. India’s long-term strategy therefore needs to be diversification rather than simply replacing dependence on the Middle East with dependence on Russia.
Lower energy costs could help India’s economy
Energy prices have a direct impact on India’s inflation, transport costs, manufacturing and household consumption.
If India can secure long-term crude and gas supplies at competitive prices, it can reduce pressure on its import bill and improve the competitiveness of Indian industries.
The benefit is particularly important because India’s energy demand is expected to continue rising as the economy expands.
A more diversified BRICS-based energy network could allow Indian refiners and energy companies to access supplies from different producing countries, potentially increasing competition among suppliers.
Smart grids and energy storage: a new area of cooperation
BRICS energy cooperation is no longer limited to oil and gas.
At the BRICS Energy Ministers’ Meeting held in Gurugram in June, member countries adopted guiding principles on smart grids and energy storage and launched the BRICS Digital Centre of Excellence for Smart Grids and Energy Storage.
This could be particularly valuable for India as it expands solar and wind power.
Renewable energy generation is intermittent: solar power is unavailable at night and wind generation varies with weather conditions. Large-scale energy storage and smarter electricity grids can help integrate these sources into the power system.
For India, cooperation with BRICS countries could provide opportunities for technology sharing, pilot projects and investment in batteries, grid management and other storage technologies.
Hydrogen, biofuels and critical minerals
The next phase of India’s energy security will increasingly depend on technologies beyond conventional hydrocarbons.
BRICS cooperation is already expanding into hydrogen value chains, biofuels, carbon capture and other emerging technologies. India has also been promoting initiatives such as the International Solar Alliance and the Global Biofuels Alliance.
Critical minerals are another important area.
Lithium, nickel, cobalt, copper and rare earth elements are essential for electric vehicles, batteries, renewable energy equipment and advanced electronics. Building diversified supply chains for these materials can reduce India’s vulnerability to disruptions in global markets.
Cooperation with BRICS countries could therefore support India’s clean-energy transition while also strengthening domestic manufacturing.
What does India gain from BRICS energy cooperation?
For India, the potential gains can be divided into five major areas:
1. Supply diversification: Access to energy producers across Russia, the Gulf, Africa and Latin America can reduce concentration risks.
2. Better energy resilience: Cooperation on supply chains, storage and infrastructure can help India deal with geopolitical disruptions.
3. Technology access: Smart grids, battery storage, hydrogen, biofuels and carbon-capture technologies could benefit from joint research and investment.
4. Lower economic vulnerability: Competitive energy supplies can help reduce inflationary pressure and protect India’s trade balance.
5. Greater geopolitical leverage: A stronger role in BRICS energy cooperation would give India greater influence in discussions involving global energy markets and the Global South.
The challenge for India
BRICS cannot by itself guarantee cheap oil or uninterrupted energy supplies.
The grouping contains countries with very different geopolitical interests. India must also balance its relationships with the United States, Europe, Gulf countries and other major energy suppliers.
Moreover, Russia’s growing importance in India’s oil basket has created geopolitical complications. The Kremlin has recently said it remains open to different payment mechanisms, while rejecting the idea that Russia is pursuing a formal “de-dollarisation” campaign.
Therefore, India’s objective is unlikely to be replacing the existing global energy system with a BRICS-only system. A more realistic strategy is to use BRICS to create more options, more suppliers, more technology partnerships and more resilient supply chains.
BRICS could become India’s energy insurance
The biggest opportunity for India is not simply buying more oil from BRICS countries. It is building an energy ecosystem in which India has multiple sources of crude and gas, access to strategic technologies, stronger electricity grids, larger storage capacity and diversified critical-mineral supply chains.
For the world’s fastest-growing major economies, energy security will increasingly determine economic security.
If India can turn its BRICS presidency into concrete cooperation on oil, gas, renewables, smart grids, storage, hydrogen and critical minerals, the grouping could become an important pillar of India’s long-term energy strategy.
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