NEW DELHI, Aug. 18 -- The petroleum and natural gas ministry has said crude oil suppliers remain hesitant to settle import bills in Indian rupees due to the country's trade imbalance.

The statement comes in response to concerns raised by the Standing Committee on Petroleum and Natural Gas over the slow adoption of rupee-denominated oil trade. The ministry said oil companies consistently engage with suppliers to negotiate crude oil settlements in Indian rupees (INR).

The committee has urged the ministry to coordinate with the finance ministry and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to remove bottlenecks in rupee settlement of crude oil imports and promote the practice more effectively.

Mint reported on 11 June that the rupee settlement mech...