Rising remittance inflows to India have doubled in the past 10 years, with four advanced economies—the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia—accounting for a growing share of the funds. Migration of higher-skilled Indians to these countries, combined with rising incomes among the diaspora, has helped reduce India’s dependence on any single region while enhancing financial resilience, according to a report by Indiaspora, a San Francisco-based NGO of global Indian-origin executives.“India’s diaspora sends home $138 billion annually, more than FDI inflows. The 35-million Indian diaspora generates over $700 billion in income globally,” Rajan Navani, a board member at Indiaspora, told ET.Beyond macroeconomic benefits, remittances play a key role at the household level. In states such as Kerala, for example, these funds are often directed toward housing upgrades, loan repayments, and education.Kerala receives about 20% of India’s total remittances despite accounting for just 3% of the 1.4 billion population.More than 70% of diaspora respondents expect transfers to India to either increase or remain stable over the next two years.Indian-origin professionals are also increasingly influencing the country’s start-up and philanthropic sectors. Over 75% of overseas angel investors backing Indian start-ups are of Indian origin, while Indian-origin leaders hold decision-making positions in more than half of the world’s largest foundations, collectively directing over $500 million annually to Indian non-profits.In the medical field, one in 10 physicians in the United States is of Indian origin. Indian-origin professionals are also leading major medical and pharmaceutical institutions, including the American Medical Association the Royal College of Physicians, and companies such as Novartis and Vertex Pharmaceuticals.

The squads for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 reflect a perfect mix of proven match-winners and bold auction decisions, making this season one of the most exciting in recent years.

Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) have retained their core built around Virat Kohli and Rajat Patidar, while adding Venkatesh Iyer to strengthen their batting firepower. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) made headlines by investing ₹25.2 crore in Cameron Green, aiming to solidify their middle order alongside Rinku Singh and Varun Chakravarthy. Meanwhile, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have taken a future-focused approach by bringing in Sanju Samson and backing young uncapped talents like Prashant Veer and Kartik Sharma.

Gujarat Titans (GT) continue to rely on their strong opening duo of Shubman Gill and Jos Buttler, supported by a lethal pace attack featuring Mohammed Siraj and Kagiso Rabada. Leadership dynamics still add intrigue this season, with Riyan Parag stepping up as Rajasthan Royals (RR) captain, while Rishabh Pant and Axar Patel continue in their leadership roles with Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Delhi Capitals (DC) respectively.

However, injuries have already shaken up several squads before the tournament begins. KKR will miss Harshit Rana, with Navdeep Saini coming in as a replacement. Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) have signed David Payne to replace Jack Edwards and will also start without Pat Cummins. RCB face concerns with Josh Hazlewood unavailable for initial few matches and Yash Dayal absent, while Mumbai Indians (MI) await clarity on Jasprit Bumrah’s fitness. Despite these challenges, IPL 2026 promises a thrilling and highly competitive season starting March 28.

IPL 2026 Squads

Chennai Super Kings

Ruturaj Gaikwad (captain), Ayush Mhatre, Sarfaraz Khan, Sanju Samson, MS Dhoni,, Urvil Patel, Kartik Sharma, Shivam Dube, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Shreyas Gopal, Aman Khan, Prashant Veer, Rahul Chahar, Khaleel Ahmed, Gurjapneet Singh, Anshul Kamboj, Mukesh Choudhary, Jamie Overton*, Dewald Brevis*, Matt Short*, Spencer Johnson*, Zak Foulkes*, Matt Henry*, Noor Ahmad*, Akeal Hosein*

Delhi Capitals

Axar Patel (captain), Prithvi Shaw, Karun Nair, Nitish Rana, Ashutosh Sharma, Sameer Rizvi, Sahil Parakh, KL Rahul, Abishek Porel, Vipraj Nigam, Auqib Nabi, Madhav Tiwari, T Vijay, Ajay Mandal, Kuldeep Yadav, Mukesh Kumar, T Natarajan, Mitchell Starc*, Pathum Nissanka*, Dushmantha Chameera*, Lungi Ngidi*, David Miller*, Tristan Stubbs*, Kyle Jamieson*

Gujarat Titans

Shubman Gill (captain), Sai Sudharsan, Shahrukh Khan, Anuj Rawat, Kumar Kushagra, Washington Sundar, Manav Suthar, Rahul Tewatia, Nishant Sindhu, Jayant Yadav, Arshad Khan, Sai Kishore, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Ishant Sharma, Ashok Sharma, Kulwant Khejroliya, Jos Buttler*, Tom Banton*, Luke Wood*, Glenn Phillips*, Jason Holder*, Rashid Khan*, Kagiso Rabada*

Kolkata Knight Riders

Ajinkya Rahane (captain), Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Manish Pandey, Rahul Tripathi, Rinku Singh, Tejasvi Dahiya, Anukul Roy, Daksh Kamra, Ramandeep Singh, Sarthak Ranjan, Prashant Solanki, Varun Chakravarthy, Kartik Tyagi, Umran Malik, Vaibhav Arora, Saurabh Dubey, Navdeep Saini, Cameron Green*, Rovman Powell*, Sunil Narine*, Finn Allen*, Rachin Ravindra*, Tim Seifert*, Matheesha Pathirana*, Blessing Muzarabani*

Lucknow Super Giants

Rishabh Pant (captain), Abdul Samad, Ayush Badoni, Himmat Singh, Akshat Raghuwanshi, Mukul Choudhary, Arshin Kulkarni, Shahbaz Ahmed, Digvesh Rathi, M Siddharth, Akash Singh, Avesh Khan, Mohammed Shami, Mohsin Khan, Prince Yadav, Arjun Tendulkar, Mayank Yadav, Naman Tiwari, Matthew Breetzke*, Aiden Markram*, Anrich Nortje*, Nicholas Pooran*, Josh Inglis*, Mitchell Marsh*, Wanindu Hasaranga*

Mumbai Indians

Hardik Pandya (captain), Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Danish Malewar, Robin Minz, Shardul Thakur, Naman Dhir, Raj Bawa, Tilak Varma, Mayank Markande, Raghu Sharma, Ashwani Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Izhar, Mayank Rawat, Will Jacks*, Ryan Rickelton*, Quinton de Kock*, Corbin Bosch* Sherfane Rutherford*, Mitchell Santner*, Trent Boult* AM Ghazanfar*

Also READ: From AB de Villiers to Suresh Raina – Star Sports unveils elite list of commentators for IPL 2026

Punjab Kings

Shreyas Iyer (captain), Harnoor Singh, Nehal Wadhera, Priyansh Arya, Pyla Avinash, Prabhsimran Singh, Vishnu Vinod, Harpreet Brar, Musheer Khan, Shashank Singh, Suryansh Shedge, Praveen Dubey, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Vishal Nishad, Yash Thakur, Azmatullah Omarzai*, Ben Dwarshuis*, Cooper Connolly*, Marcus Stoinis*, Mitchell Owen*, Xavier Bartlett*, Marco Jansen*, Lockie Ferguson*

Rajasthan Royals

Riyan Parag (captain), Shubham Dubey, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Aman Rao, Dhruv Jurel, Ravi Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Yudhvir Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Yash Raj Punja, Vignesh Puthur, Sandeep Sharma, Tushar Deshpande, Sushant Mishra, Kuldeep Sen, Brijesh Sharma, Jofra Archer*, Lhuan-dre Pretorius*, Donovan Ferreira*, Kwena Maphaka*, Nandre Burger*, Adam Milne*, Shimron Hetmyer*, Dasun Shanaka*

Royal Challengers Bengaluru

Rajat Patidar (captain), Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Jitesh Sharma, Venkatesh Iyer, Krunal Pandya, Swapnil Singh, Satwik Deswal, Kanish Chouhan, Vihaan Malhotra, Vicky Ostwal, Suyash Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rasikh Salam, Mangesh Yadav, Abhinandan Singh, Jacob Bethell*, Phil Salt*, Jordan Cox*, Josh Hazlewood*, Tim David*, Romario Shepherd*, Jacob Duffy*, Nuwan Thushara*

Sunrisers Hyderabad

Pat Cummins* (captain), Ishan Kishan (stand-in captain), Aniket Verma, R Smaran, Salil Arora, Abhishek Sharma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshal Patel, Harsh Dubey, Shivang Kumar, Krains Fuletra, Zeeshan Ansari, Amit Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, Shivam Mavi, Onkar Tarmale, Sakib Hussain, Praful Hinge, Liam Livingstone*, Brydon Carse*, David Payne*, Travis Head*, Heinrich Klaasen*, Kamindu Mendis*, Eshan Malinga*

* – Overseas players

Also READ: IPL 2026 Schedule, Broadcast and Live Streaming details – When and where to watch in India, Australia, USA, UK & other countries

Russian oil supplies to India could rise sharply, potentially doubling from January levels to account for at least 40% of India’s total imports. (AI image)

As supply disruptions from the Strait of Hormuz continue due to the US-Iran war, India has stepped up its purchases of Russian crude oil. In fact, compared to the January levels, India’s procurement of Russian crude may actually double!Russian crude has once again taken centre stage amid the ongoing US-Iran conflict, as disruptions in global supply through the Strait of Hormuz have made it difficult for Middle Eastern producers to ship oil, driving prices sharply higher. This has had a significant impact on India, which depends on imports for nearly 90% of its crude oil needs.Traditionally, India has sourced most of its crude from the Middle East, particularly Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, owing to geographical proximity, established contracts and reliable shipping routes.

Russian Crude Imports May Double!

India and Russia are moving to strengthen their energy ties, with discussions underway to enable Moscow to restart direct liquefied natural gas sales to India for the first time since the Ukraine conflict began.According to a Reuters report, decisions on energy ties took place on March 19 in Delhi between Russian Deputy Energy Minister Pavel Sorokin and Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri. Both sides explored expanding crude oil trade. According to three people aware of the deliberations, Russian oil supplies to India could rise sharply, potentially doubling from January levels to account for at least 40% of India’s total imports within about a month!Following the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022, Russia had emerged as a major supplier, accounting for about 35–40% of India’s crude imports at one point. However, by early 2026, sanctions led to a decline in these purchases. However, the situation has shifted again in March 2026 after the Donald Trump administration introduced a 30-day waiver allowing the purchase of Russian crude in an effort to stabilise global oil prices. While India never completely stopped importing Russian oil, volumes had dropped sharply after sanctions were imposed on major Russian producers.

After Western sanctions following the Ukraine conflict limited Russia’s access to European markets, India increased its intake of Russian oil, attracted by discounted prices and compatibility with domestic refineries.Also Read | US-Iran war impact: India’s crude imports from Russia near all time highs; will such high numbers continue?This strategy helped lower import costs and diversify supply sources. However, towards the end of 2025 and into early 2026, India reduced purchases of Russian crude amid trade negotiations with the US and concerns over tariffs and sanctions. In August 2025, the US imposed a 25% tariff linked to India’s Russian oil imports, while sanctions on companies such as Lukoil and Rosneft further constrained procurement, leading to a gradual dip in volumes. That trend has now reversed.Data from Kpler indicates that India has already bought an estimated 45–50 million barrels of Russian crude since the onset of the Middle East conflict, with actual figures likely higher as April data is still pending. Current trends suggest that March imports could reach around 1.8 to 2.0 million barrels per day, marking one of the strongest months since India significantly increased purchases after the Ukraine war. This compares with earlier levels of about 1.0 million barrels per day.Historically, India’s peak monthly intake of Russian crude has been in the range of 2.0 to 2.1 million barrels per day since 2022. The latest surge indicates that imports are once again approaching those earlier highs, reversing the decline seen in recent months.