New Delhi: With the US deadline — to all countries to reduce Iranian oil imports to zero or else face sanctions — expiring on Thursday, India will be relying on additional suppliers of oil based a on a “robust plan” put in place by the petroleum ministry, the ministry of external affairs (MEA) said on Thursday evening.

The MEA said India’s decisions on oil import are taken keeping in mind factors such as “commercial considerations” and “energy security”. But Government sources indicated that India would be reducing its oil imports from Iran to zero. There were reports earlier that New Delhi may have firmed up plans to import additional oil from countries like Saudi Arabia. It may be recalled that the United States had earlier given six-month waivers to eight countries including India, China, Japan and South Korea for exemption from the November 4 deadline last year of stopping Iranian oil imports completely. India relies heavily on foreign oil imports to meet its energy demands. The US had then set that deadline for countries across the globe to either fall in line or face US sanctions. But the US decided recently not to extend the waivers beyond the six-month period which means the deadline ends on Thursday (May 2).

According to news agency reports in April, India will stop importing crude oil from Iran following the US move to end sanction waivers, and will use alternate supply sources such as Saudi Arabia to make up for the lost volumes.

Oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan in a tweet in April had said “a robust plan for an adequate supply of crude oil to Indian refineries” is in place. “There will be additional supplies from other major oil-producing countries; Indian refineries are fully prepared to meet the national demand for petrol, diesel & other petroleum products,” he was quoted in April by news agency reports as having said then.

The MEA had said in April, “The Government has noted the announcement by the US government to discontinue the significant reduction exemption to all purchasers of crude oil from Iran. We are adequately prepared to deal with the impact.”