Petrol And Diesel Price: Petroleum Minister Hardeep Puri has given a clear indication that fuel prices in India may be reduced if crude oil prices remain stable. However, this decision may be delayed if there is Russia-Israel tension or global upheaval.
India is one of the few countries where fuel prices have come down in the last three years or more. Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Thursday said that if crude oil prices remain at the current level for the next two to three months, fuel prices in India are likely to come down. However, he also made it clear that this will be possible only if the situation remains stable. If a major geopolitical event like tensions between Iran and Israel occurs, the situation can completely change. He made this statement at the “Energy Talks 2025” program.
Hardeep Puri also responded to the criticism from the US for buying oil from Russia. He said that India has increased the sources of crude oil import from 27 to 40. That is, the 27 countries from which India was importing crude oil earlier. Now that number has gone up to 40. His statement came at a time when NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte had said on Wednesday that sanctions can be imposed on countries like India, China and Brazil because these countries are constantly trading with Russia.
India has not purchased any “banned” oil from Russia. He clarified that there was no global ban on Russian oil. Only its prices were kept within a certain limit. There is no pressure on me. I am not worried. Whatever happens, we are prepared to face it. We have sufficient supply available, Puri clarified.
How much out of pocket?
According to information given by ‘Dainik Bhaskar’ quoting rating agencies, oil companies are making a profit of 12 to 15 per liter on petrol and about 6 on diesel. However, they have not reduced prices even once in the last one year. When there was a possibility of a reduction in prices in April, the government increased excise duty by 2 per liter. Due to this, companies were exempted from reducing prices.
Governments are not far behind in this profit. In the case of Delhi alone, the central government levies 21.90 and the state government 15.40 tax on petrol – a total of 37.30 per litre. On diesel, these taxes reach 30.63 per litre. An average urban citizen consumes about 2.80 litres of petrol and 6.32 litres of diesel per month. This means that he spends about 298 per month in taxes alone.
