Russia, facing severe Western sanctions, had warned the European Union in April against sweeping sanctions on coal, saying they would backfire as the fuel would be redirected to other markets.
India has refrained from condemning Russia, with which it has longstanding political and security ties, but urged an end to violence in Ukraine. New Delhi defends its purchases of Russian goods as part of an effort to diversify supplies and argues a sudden halt would jack up prices and hurt its consumers.
The US officials had told India there was no ban on energy imports from Russia but they (US administration) do not want to see a rapid escalation in imports from Russia.
As European importers shun trade with Moscow, Indian buyers are mopping up huge quantities of Russian coal despite high freight costs.
Its purchases of coal and related products jumped more than six-fold to US$331.17 million in the recent 20 days from the same period a year earlier, according to unpublished Indian government data reviewed by Reuters.
Similarly, Indian refiners have snapped up cheap Russian oil shunned by Western countries. The value of India's oil trade with Russia during the period under review jumped more than 31-fold to US$2.22 billion, the data showed.
"The Russian traders have been liberal with payment routes and are accepting payments in Indian rupee and United Arab Emirates dirham," one source said. "The discounts are attractive, and this trend of higher Russian coal purchases will continue."
Offshore units of such Russian coal traders as Suek AG, KTK and Cyprus-based Carbo One in places including Dubai and Singapore offered discounts of 25% to 30%, triggering bulk purchases of Russian thermal coal by traders supplying to utilities and cement makers, the sources said.
Another source said the Singapore-based unit of Suek was also accepting payments in dollars.
Suek and KTK did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Reuters could not immediately reach Carbo One.
The EU ban has barred new coal contracts and by mid-August will force the member nations to terminate existing ones.
India bought an average US$16.55 million of Russian coal a day, more than double the US$7.71 million it bought in the three months after Russian invasion on Ukraine on February 24, this year, according to Reuters calculations.
Oil purchases averaged US$110.86 million a day in the 20-day period, more than triple the US$31.16 million it spent in the three months ended May 26, 2022.
Indian bulk buying of Russian coal is set to continue, with June imports expected to be the most in at least seven and a half years, Refinitiv Eikon ship tracking data showed.
Bulk shipments of Russian thermal coal started reaching India in the third week of May, with orders mainly from cement and steel firms and traders, according to shipping data compiled by an Indian coal trader.
