As much as USD 300 million (around ₹2,500 crores) in dividend revenue from Indian oil companies is trapped in Russia due to strict Western sanctions following Russias invasion of Ukraine. Indian state-owned oil companies have spent USD 5.46 billion to purchase shares in four distinct Russian enterprises. A 49.9% ownership in the oil and gas field Vankorneft and a further 29.9% in the TAAS-Yuryakh Neftegazodobycha fields are among them. They receive dividends from the operating consortiums sales of the oil and gas extracted from the areas. The OIL, Indian Oil, and Bharat PetroResources consortium received $300 million in dividend payments. ONGC Videsh, which has an interest in the same projects, would receive a similar dividend income. Prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Indian corporations were earning regular dividend revenue from their investments in Russia however, since the conflict started, they have been unable to bring that cash home. Although the Indian partners are receiving dividend payments from the Russian corporations managing the projects, the money continues to pile up in the Russian Commercial Indo Bank (CIBL). The Indian firms are also getting some interest from this process. For dividend income stored at CIBL, no official information is available. A senior government official had claimed in April that dividends still held in Russia were currently valued at about $400 million. However, the true amount can be higher. There are almost $300 million in unpaid dividends parked in CIBL for the partnership of IOC, OIL, and BPRL. OVL dividends are accumulating as well. SBI and Canara Bank previously collaborated in CIBL, but Canara Bank recently transferred its ownership to SBI.According to a senior government official, India and Russia have been constantly discussing the matter and are working to find a solution. The official did, however, note that although the dividend obligations are not trivial, they are negligible in comparison with the total volume of oil traded between Russia and India and have no impact on it. Even as the government raises the issue with Russia, Indian enterprises are assessing viable ways for obtaining and utilising that money, even if it cannot be transferred to India right away.
