April 12, 2012. India has vaulted to the top of the list of Iran's oil customers, overtaking China, in a first quarter buying surge ahead of tighter sanctions against Tehran. Direct imports to India from Iran were 433,000 barrels per day (bpd) in the first quarter compared with 256,000 bpd to China. The Indian import figure was up by around 23 percent from the 351,0000 bpd imported over the same period of 2011 and significantly above the its 2011 average of 326,000 bpd.