NEW DELHI, May 12 — ‌India will at some stage need to assess how long state-run fuel retailers can sustain losses from selling transport fuels below market prices, oil minister Hardeep Singh Puri said at ‌an industry event today.

Petrol and diesel spot prices have surged to multi-year highs globally as the Middle East conflict disrupted supply, but governments in several major economies have held down pump prices to shield consumers from inflation.

A joint secretary in the oil ministry, Sujata Sharma, had earlier said that India had no plans to compensate oil marketing companies for these losses.

Fuel retailers are incurring losses of about 100 rupees (RM4.11) per litre on diesel and 20 rupees per litre on petrol, Sharma said last month.

India is the world’s ‌third-largest oil importer and consumer, meeting more than 90% of its crude oil ⁠needs and about half of its natural ⁠gas demand through imports.

Indian state fuel retailers, ⁠including Indian Oil Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum ⁠and Bharat Petroleum, which ⁠account for most of the fuel sales in the country, have not raised gasoline and diesel prices since April 2022.

A senior government official separately told Reuters ⁠that compensating oil marketing companies while keeping fuel prices unchanged is not fiscally sustainable.

Another official said any price increase would be substantial enough to discourage spending on petrol and diesel, but not so large as to sharply stoke inflation.

Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the ⁠matter.

Oil minister Puri also said India has crude and liquefied natural gas sufficient for 60 days, and liquefied petroleum gas for 45 days.

Indian Prime ⁠Minister Narendra Modi urged on Sunday a spate of measures including fuel conservation, work-from-home practices ⁠and ⁠limits on travel and imports to ease pressure on the country’s foreign exchange reserves.

The country’s balance of payments is expected to worsen sharply during the current 2026-27 fiscal year, ‌with the deficit projected at about US$66 billion (RM260 billion) to US$70 billion, up from an estimated US$26 billion to US$28 billion in 2025-26. — Reuters

BENGALURU, May 11 — Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday urged the people of India to cut down on petrol and diesel consumption amid supply disruptions due to the Middle East war.

India is one of few countries in the region that has not increased prices of petrol and diesel for domestic consumers or rationed supplies.

But it has increased prices of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) — a primary cooking fuel in the country—after disruptions following the US-Israeli strikes on Iran, which led to Iran’s near-total blockade of the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

“We have to reduce our use of petrol and diesel. In cities with metro lines, we should try to travel by metro... If we must use a car, then we should try to car pool,” Modi said Sunday, addressing a gathering in southern Telangana state.

He added that restrictions on use were also necessary to save foreign currency spent on fuel imports.

“We must also place a strong emphasis on saving foreign exchange, as petrol and diesel have become so expensive globally.”

Modi also urged people to resume energy-saving schemes that were in place during the Covid pandemic.

“We should prioritise work from home, online conferences, and virtual meetings again,” he said.

Hardeep Singh Puri, India’s minister for petroleum and natural gas, said oil marketing companies (OMCs) had taken a hit on their revenues while ensuring “uninterrupted energy imports and supply.”

“OMCs are buying crude, gas and LPG at higher cost, but in order to protect consumers, they are selling final products at lower cost leading to massive mounting losses of upto 1,000 crore rupees (approximately RM470 million) per day,” Puri said Sunday on X.

He added that losses for the government, after reducing taxes on diesel and petrol for domestic consumption, “saw revenue losses of 14,000 crore rupees in a month.”

He urged citizens to turn Modi’s “empathetic appeal” into a mass movement “to save and conserve energy.” — AFP