CNBC TV18 | Hardeep Singh Puri says people should question states that did not pass on reduced excise duties

Oct 14,2022

Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri said the price of petroleum products had increased by 43 percent in the US and 46 percent in Canada. In contrast, India witnessed only a marginal increase of 2 percent. The Union Minister said this at the three-day South Asian Geoscience Conference Geo India 2022, which began at Sitapura on Friday.

The world is under fire due to high energy prices now, the Minister said. "The Centre has reduced excise duty twice, but some states have not done it and people should ask these governments the reason behind this," he added.

Puri said India would purchase oil from wherever it has to.

"We have no compunctions on that. The truth is, nobody even told us not to purchase it... Am I responsible to my consumers, or is another country's government responsible to my consumers?" he said.

Puri was referring to his government's decision to purchase cheap oil from Russia amid the ongoing Ukraine war.
"Look at import statistics, Saudi has been the largest supplier, but we need to take our decisions, and we won't hesitate, and we have many sources to diversify," he said. 

Puri also said that the ethanol-blend percentage in petrol has increased from 0.67 percent in 2013 to 10 percent in May this year which is five months ahead of schedule. He also said that this is reducing 2.7 million tonnes of CO2 emissions.

As per the International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates, India will contribute a quarter (25 percent) of the growth in global energy consumption in the coming two decades.