Hardeep Singh Puri was speaking at the NDTV Indian Of The Year awards
Countering Opposition criticism over high fuel prices, Hardeep Singh Puri, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, said India is the only country in the world where fuel prices have come down over a two-year reference period.
Mr Puri was speaking at the NDTV Indian Of The Year awards in Delhi this evening.
The Narendra Modi government, he said, deserves admiration for controlling prices. "At a point when 80 crore people were being, and are still being provided, three meals of dry ration in a day, the Honourable Prime Minister was able to bring the price of fuel down. We are the only country in the world where, over a two-year reference period, the price of fuel has actually come down," he said.
On a question on India's position on buying Russian oil, reasons for which have been articulated by External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar on international forums, Mr Puri said, "The Indian position has been that we will buy from wherever we have to buy."
He said India bought a very small quantity of its required crude oil from Russia before the war in Ukraine. "And then it rose, now it is 30-32 per cent. Will it remain like that? If we get a good price, it will," he said, adding that India is getting other offers too.
Asked about the challenges in ensuring India is never energy-starved at a time of geopolitical developments such as the war in Ukraine, Mr Puri said, "What you describe as a challenge also contains within it an opportunity. The opportunity becomes very exciting if the economy is firing on all six cylinders."
The minister said there was not a single occasion in the last several years when there was a shortage of diesel or petrol or cooking gas. "So we managed well."
"The Honourable Prime Minister decided, on two occasions - November 2021 and May 2022 - that we were going to reduce the central excise duty. That brought the price of petrol down by 13 rupees and diesel by 16 rupees. And BJP-ruled states reduced their VAT. So you had a differential of Rs 12-15 between a BJP-ruled state and a non-BJP ruled state. This is the Centre's doing. On top of that, you had good corporate entities. When the prices were going haywire, Sri Lanka prices went up by 60-70 per cent, Pakistan even higher. In the US, Western Europe, Canada, it went up between 25 and 40 per cent. And in India the prices were coming down. Because Oil Marketing Companies decided, as good corporate citizens, that they will hold back their profits. OMCs are laughing their way to the bank now," he said.
Asked about criticism that OMCs may be laughing their way to the bank, but the common man is not getting relief, Mr Puri said OMCs are not philanthropic organisations and have to answer to their shareholders. "They did what they could," he said, stressing that they held back at the right time.
On a question on whether there is room for more cuts in fuel prices, the Union Minister pointed to the model code of conduct for the Lok Sabha polls. "Any statement I make is bound to be picked on," he said.
Mr Puri also said the perception about public sector companies has changed. "The good news is that the public sector, in general, is doing very well," he said.