India has successfully “insulated” its citizens from the global volatility in fuel prices which has affected other developing nations as well as the developed world, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has said.
“India’s policy successfully ensured a sustained availability of fuel. This has led to the lowest price inflation in the world,” Puri said, as per a ministry statement on Thursday.
The minister further highlighted that Indian citizens “never suffered” any disruption in supplies in spite of the “global energy challenges”, which have been caused by West’s efforts to phase out Russian commodities from the global supply chains.
Fuel Prices on the Rise — But Not in India
The statement noted that retail fuel prices in India have witnessed a seven to eight percent decline between April 2022 and April 2023. On the other hand, fuel prices at pumps in India’s neighbouring countries—Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka—as well as developed economies such as France, Italy and the UK have risen between 12 and 29 per cent during the same period.
The Indian government has previously stated that its surge in crude imports from Russia has been a major factor in controlling inflation which has affected other nations.
India imported almost 35 per cent of its overall crude imports from Russia in February, with Moscow overtaking countries in the Middle-East as the largest energy supplier of the world’s third-biggest economy.
Russia has to maintain its position as the foremost energy supplier, having supplied nearly 32 million tonnes of crude to Delhi in 2022. Moscow has said that its energy supplies to New Delhi are projected to rise further.
India Successfully Navigated the ‘Energy Trilemma’, Puri Says
Puri also said that New Delhi has been able to successfully navigate the “energy trilemma of energy availability, affordability and sustainability”, per the statement.
“India is the only major economy on track to meet its Paris Climate Deal goals and is aggressively moving towards green transition through biofuels, green hydrogen and a gas-based economy,” he said.
He expressed confidence that New Delhi was well on path to achieve its goal of becoming a ‘Net Carbon Zero’ economy by 2070, adding that it was crucial to “survive the present” and ensure that energy “accessibility and affordability” remained intact.
Puri also noted that India’s energy demand was projected to grow by three percent till 2040, higher than the global annual average of one percent.
He said that almost 25 percent of the global energy growth between 2020 and 2040 was slated to come from India because of its fast-growing economy and the “demographic dividend”, with India recently overtaking China as the world’s most populous nation.