India has increased petrol and diesel prices for the first time in four years as rising import costs forced state-owned refiners to pass on higher expenses to consumers, according to terminal data shared by Bloomberg.
Pakistan has already raised fuel prices four times since the April 10 relief. India is seeing high fuel rates for the first time since then.
The retail price hike is equivalent to about $0.031 (PKR 8.6) per litre and represents a rise of more than 3 percent.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had delayed any adjustment for years due to the political and economic sensitivity of fuel costs for Indian households, even as refiners absorbed most of the losses.
Wholesale fuel prices had already surged sharply in recent months. Petrol prices jumped 32.4 percent in April, while diesel climbed 25.19 percent, according to local market data.
The pressure intensified after war in the Middle East disrupted India’s oil imports via the Strait of Hormuz. The supply shock pushed up the country’s oil import bill, weakened investor confidence, and drove the rupee to record lows against the US dollar.
Rising fuel costs have begun feeding into broader inflation. Wholesale inflation accelerated to 8.3 percent year-on-year in April, sharply higher than the 3.88 percent recorded a month earlier.
Despite maintaining strategic oil reserves, New Delhi has urged fuel conservation measures and is seeking an extension from Washington on sanctions waivers allowing continued purchases of Russian crude. The existing waiver is set to expire soon.
Meanwhile, Indian imports of Russian oil have doubled between February and March to a record 2.3 million barrels per day earlier this month.
Was this written by a 5 yr old ?
India hasn’t raised prices in 4 years. Pakistan kept raising them every 15 days.
What copy ?