APRIL 20239Preliminary ship-tracking data from Kpler and Vortexa revealed that record-high imports of crude oil from Russia in fiscal 2022­23 helped India's refiners increase shipments of diesel and jet fuel to Europe while the continent rejected Russian goods. The availability of inexpensive Russian crude has increased production and earnings at Indian refineries, allowing them to export refined goods to Europe at a competitive price and capture a larger market share. Before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Europe regularly bought 154,000 barrels per day (bpd) or more of diesel and jet fuel from India. After the European Union forbade the import of Russian oil products beginning on February 5th, Kpler statistics showed that it jumped to 200,000 bpd. The report indicated that India's imports of Russian oil increased in March for the seventh consecutive month to complete the fiscal year as the top supplier to India, overtaking Iraq for the first time. Indian refiners, which rarely bought Russian oil previously due to high transport costs, imported 970,000-981,000 bpd of it in 2022/23, accounting for more than a fifth of overall imports at 4.5-4.6 million bpd, Kpler and Vortexa data showed. Imports from Iraq slipped to 936,000-961,000 bpd from nearly 1 million bpd in 2021/22, the data showed. India Grid Trust announced that it had put into operation its first battery energy storage system (BESS) project in conjunction with solar panels, at the Dhule substation in Maharashtra. The business said that the project will satisfy the substation's need for auxiliary usage. It will "serve as a prototype for extending our footprint inenergy transition opportunities in the sector" in addition to 'reducing our emissions', according to the statement. According to Chief Executive Officer Harsh Shah, this facility will also serve as a test site for enhancing IndiGrid's capacity to take advantage of energy transition opportunities in the solar and BESS space. He continued, "We look forward to replicating such technologies throughout our other substations and reducing emissions of our operations as operations at this facility settle".The Indian power sector's first infrastructure investment trust is called IndiGrid. It is the owner of 17 power projects, including 100 MW (AC) of solar generation capacity, 13 substations with 17,550 MVA of transformation capacity, and 46 transmission lines totaling more than 8,416 ckms (circuit kilometres) in length. Around Rs.22,700 crore are managed assets (AUM) for IndiGrid ($2.7 billion). KKR owns all of the stock of IndiGrid's investment manager. RUSSIAN OIL GETS BACKDOOR ENTRY INTO EUROPE VIA INDIAINDIA GRID LAUNCHES ITS FIRST BATTERY ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEM IN MAHARASHTRATOP STORIES
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