Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Tuesday accused India of profiteering from cheap Russian oil imports during the war in Ukraine, describing the practice as "arbitrage" and condemning it as unacceptable.

"They are just profiteering. They are reselling," Bessent told CNBC's " Squawk Box " in an interview. "This is what I would call the Indian arbitrage — buying cheap Russian oil, reselling it as product."

"They've made $16 billion in excess profits — some of the richest families in India," Bessent said.

India buys Russian oil at a discount due to sanctions, refines it into gasoline and diesel, and then sells the product back to regions that have sanctioned Moscow such as Europe, said Matt Smith, an oil market analyst at Kpler.

India's imports of Russian oil have surged since the Kre

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