“Union Petroleum and Natural Gas minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that compared to fuel price hikes globally, India only raised prices by 2 per cent, which is way below that of other countries.
“In terms of petrol and diesel, if the increases in North America are 43-46 per cent, in India we allow prices to go up by only 2 per cent or so. In terms of gas, global benchmarks went up by 260-280 per cent and our own ability to contain gas price increases was something around 70 per cent,” Puri told reporters in Washington DC. Puri on Thursday held bilateral meeting with US energy secretary Jennifer Granholm and other top officials of the Biden Administration.
The minister also highlighted India’s commitment to accelerating a just and sustainable energy transition at the ministerial dialogue on India-US strategic clean energy.
During his visit, the union minister also held meetings with senior officials of the World Bank, the Presidential envoy for energy and infrastructure Amos Hochstein and senior representatives of the White House. Puri is scheduled to meet energy business leaders in Houston on Saturday.
The Union Minister said that India was “very confident” of navigating the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries Plus (OPEC+) decision to cut oil production from November by a steeper-than-expected two million barrels per day (bpd).
“How will this impact India? We are very confident of being able to navigate through the situation,” Puri told reporters in Washington.
“How will this navigate India? We’re very confident of being able to navigate through the situation,” said Puri.
Puri highlighted India is one of the largest oil importers and the demand is expected to rise driven by an increase in the country’s per capita consumption of energy which currently stands at one-third of the global average. Puri further stressed that the fuel demand is expected to keep rising as the country’s economy grows.
“In India, 5mn (oil) bpd is being consumed daily; it’s set to rise. Our per capita consumption compared to global averages is 1/3rd. But I see in the coming years, 25 per cent of the global increase in demand will come from India. Energy is a critical driver of economic growth,” the union minister said.
The Union Minister also said that India will buy crude oil from whichever country it wanted and that New Delhi faces no pressure from Washington to cut its energy buys from Russia.
“India will buy oil from wherever it has to for the simple reason that this kind of a discussion cannot be taken to the consuming population of India,” Puri told reporters in Washington.