The probability of a cut in prices of petrol and diesel ahead of elections has been ruled out by the government.
Speaking at a press conference in New Delhi, Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas said that, India was amongst the fastest growing nations globally and the energy needs too have grown substantially along with this.
Despite the global turmoil in terms of fuel price hikes seen by developed and even neighbouring countries, India has been able to stabilise fuel prices.
“In the south Asian countries, the prices of petrol and diesel increased between 40-80 percent. If you look at the Western countries, the prices have gone up there too, but here the prices have come down.”
Interestingly, he added, “India on the other hand, was the only country in the world prices of energy at retail point have actually come down twice – November 2021 and May 2022. We carried that into 2023.”
He said that at present India is the world’s third-largest consumer of energy, oil and LPG. The country was the fourth largest LNG importer, refiner and automobile market, which means India’s energy needs is immense.
But given the high volatility of oil prices globally, any price cut on fuel is difficult for the government and hence there have been no talks with OMCs on price reduction at the moment, explained Puri.
