New Delhi, 6th August, 2023 (WAM) – India’s energy consumption is growing at three times the global average, the Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Hardeep Singh Puri, said.
By keeping domestic fuel prices “affordable” for consumers and by making fuel “available” to everyone, India’s energy consumption is now growing at a healthy three percent annually, compared to the global average rise of one percent.
Speaking to a cross-section of correspondents in New Delhi, Puri said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had monitored domestic fuel availability during volatility in the global energy market and ordered cuts in central excise duties and value added tax on petrol and diesel. These made prices affordable for consumers.
India also increased its sources for crude oil imports from 27 to 39 countries. “The challenges in the global energy market were there already, before the February 2022 Russia-Ukraine conflict. But we have navigated our way through this global turbulence.”
Puri said India imports five million barrels of crude oil in a day. “We bought from wherever we could when shortages were feared.”
As a result of these steps, price rise of fuel for domestic consumers in India was only 2.36 percent in the last two years, while the comparative price rise in many developing and developed countries was around 30 percent.
“Domestic prices were last changed in May 2022,” the Minister said. India’s oil marketing companies (OMCs) may cut petrol and diesel prices if global crude oil prices remain stable at current levels because the OMCs have posted robust earnings for the April-June 2023 quarter.
WAM/Krishnan Nayar