TMS Ep420: Russian crude oil, Sanjay Mehrotra, travel stocks, LRS

Shunned by the West, Russian crude oil has been fulfilling India’s growing needs since its invasion of Ukraine. From one per cent, the share of discounted Russian crude has shot up to around 40% of total imports. But with sanctions catching up, the purchases of Russian crude are likely to plateau. So, is the honeymoon phase of Russia-India oil trade coming to an end?   India will indeed have to strike a difficult balance in the days to come as both -- Russia and the US -- are its strategic partners. Speaking of the US, one of its largest chip makers, Micron Technology, is planning to set up a plant in India. And for its CEO, Kanpur-born Sanjay Mehrotra, it is a homecoming of sorts. Now 64, Mehrotra had left for the US when he was just 18.   Moving on, rising air passenger traffic and higher hotel occupancies suggest the travel industry is on a stable road to recovery. So as consumers ready for the summer holiday season, is it time to look at travel related stocks?   Outward remittances under the liberalised remittance scheme (LRS) of RBI touched all-time high in FY23. The central bank has proposed some changes in the scheme. In this episode of the podcast, we explain exactly what is LRS and what are the proposed changes.