Oil import bill falls 61% on fall in crude prices.

New Delhi: India’s oil import bill fell for the sixth month in May after crude prices declined from a record.

Oil import costs in the month dropped 61% to $4.13 billion (around Rs20,000 crore) , according to provisional figures released by the commerce ministry in an emailed statement in New Delhi on Wednesday. The value of oil imports a year earlier was $10.5 billion, according to the ministry’s revised estimates.

Global crude prices have declined from a record $147.27 on 1 July, reducing costs for India, which imports at least 75% of its energy needs.

The average price of crude in May fell 53% to $58.83 a barrel in New York from a year earlier. Lower crude oil costs helped Indian Oil Corp. Ltd and other refiners to increase imports 19% to 12.02 million tonnes during the month, according to provisional data provided by the oil ministry on Tuesday.