Rejoinder

Oct 15,2022

A section of the media has misreported on the issue of domestic oil production and price rise of petrol by Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Shri Hardeep Singh Puri on the sidelines of GeoIndia 2022 in Jaipur on 14 October 2022. These reports are not only mischievous but are also misleading and motivated.

On the issue of petrol prices, the Minister had said that the prices of energy depend on number of dynamic factors, and the government of India has taken various initiatives (in its control) like reduction in excise duties twice (once in November 2021 and May 2022) to keep prices under check. He also said the Govt. will ensure stable supplies of fuel at affordable prices. Compared to many countries in the world, petrol and diesel prices in India are much less when seen in the light of spiraling crude oil and gas prices in the world. The Minister cited statistics that, while for international gas indexes, the price increase had ranged from 140-280%, in India, through government efforts, we had restricted it to just 70%. Even for oil, while global prices have increased by around 40% during the last 1 year, India’s fuel prices have increased by just 2%.

In the context of domestic energy demand, what Minister said was that 25 per cent of the global growth in energy demand will come from India. He added that India is trying to meet a large part of its total energy demand from domestic sources and at the same time trying to diversify its crude oil sources. He also talked about rising share of ethanol blending in petrol where 10% blending target has been achieved before the target date.

The official press release of the event for further clarity may be accessed through following Link- https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1867773