India, under the leadership of BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya, has stood out amidst soaring global fuel prices due to the West Asia conflict and crude oil supply disruptions. Malviya highlighted that India experienced minimal increases in petrol and diesel prices compared to other nations between February 23 and May 15, despite Brent crude prices exceeding $100 per barrel.
During this period, petrol prices in India rose by 3.2%, while diesel prices increased by 3.4%. In contrast, countries like Myanmar, Malaysia, Pakistan, the UAE, and the United States witnessed significant spikes in fuel prices. Malviya praised India’s public sector oil marketing companies for maintaining stable prices for 76 days despite the escalating global crude prices.
The BJP leader emphasized that rather than burdening citizens immediately, Indian oil companies absorbed substantial losses at the refinery level. He mentioned that daily under-recoveries had reached nearly Rs 1,000 crore before a modest Rs 3 per litre price hike was announced on May 15, amounting to a 3.5% increase on a base price of around Rs 95 per litre.
Malviya stressed the importance of fuel price stability in curbing inflation, transport expenses, logistics costs, and manufacturing inputs. He lauded India for limiting the impact on its citizens to just over 3% while many other countries faced much higher price surges.
