New Delhi, May 15 (IANS) BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya said on Friday that India emerged as a ‘striking exception’ amid a sharp rise in global fuel prices triggered by ongoing West Asia conflict and disruption in crude oil supplies through the Strait of Hormuz.

On a microblogging platform X, sharing a detailed comparison of fuel price movements across major economies, Malviya said India recorded one of the lowest increases in petrol and diesel prices between February 23 and May 15 despite Brent crude remaining above $100 per barrel during much of the period.

According to the BJP leader, petrol prices in India rose 3.2 per cent during the period, while diesel prices increased 3.4 per cent. In contrast, several countries witnessed steep hikes in fuel prices.

He highlighted that Myanmar recorded an almost 90 per cent jump in petrol prices and more than doubled rise in diesel prices, while Malaysia saw petrol and diesel prices rise by 56.3 per cent and 71.2 per cent, respectively.

Similarly, Pakistan witnessed a 54.9 per cent increase in petrol prices and a 44.9 per cent rise in diesel prices, while fuel prices in the UAE and the United States also climbed sharply, he noted.

According to him, India’s public sector oil marketing companies, which account for nearly 90 per cent of fuel retail sales, kept prices largely unchanged for 76 days despite rising global crude prices.

“Instead of immediately passing on the burden to citizens, they absorbed substantial under-recoveries at the refinery gate,” he wrote on X.

He added that estimates suggested that daily under-recoveries had approached nearly Rs 1,000 crore before the government announced a Rs 3 per litre increase in petrol and diesel prices on May 15.

Calling the revision a calibrated increase, Malviya said the move amounted to only about a 3.5 per cent hike on a base price of nearly Rs 95 per litre.

He further stated that fuel price stability was important not only for consumers but also for controlling inflation, transport costs, logistics expenses and manufacturing input costs.

“The story is that while much of the world adjusted through increases of 10 per cent, 20 per cent, 50 per cent and in some cases nearly 90 per cent, India limited the impact on its citizens to just over 3 per cent,” Malviya said.

–IANS

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