US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross with Corporate Affairs Minister Suresh Prabhu (@sureshpprabhu/Twitter)United States (US) Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, who is on India to boost bilateral trade and resolve the extant trade issues, on Monday (6 May) said that US cannot ensure the sale of oil to India at cheaper rates to compensate for the Iranian crude exports, reports Hindu BusinessLine.
Ross tried to underscore that given the oil is owned by private people, government cannot force people to offer concessionary prices to India.
Indian refiners are suffering losses because of inaccessibility of the cheaper Iranian oil. Iran was offering discounts on shipping and insurance as well as provided a long credit period to India, making it the preferred supplier for the country.
The Persian gulf nation accounted for over 10 per cent of India's oil needs and was the third largest supplier of oil to India last year (2018-19) before the sanctions against it came into effect.
Meanwhile, defending the US's stance against Iran, Ross said that “Iran is a problem, if you have seen recent terrorism incidents. And we should be doing whatever we can against terrorism.”
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