Indian oil minister Hardeep Singh Puri
Timing is all on India's fuel price cuts
With elections looming, the government must decide when to take the sting out of high oil prices
High global crude prices present a test for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government just six months before general elections are scheduled to be held in India. The government has the power to lower retail fuel prices, and sources in two major state-owned fuel retailers told Petroleum Economist the oil ministry has been in discussions for some time with state oil marketing companies (OMCs) to reduce retail prices for gasoline and diesel. Polls are due in November in five states—Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram—and will be followed by general elections by May 2024. Speculation about a reduction in retail fuel prices increased in industry circles after the Indian
Also in this section
10 March 2026
By shutting the Strait of Hormuz, Iran has cut exports of distillate-rich Middle Eastern crude, jet fuel and diesel, and is holding the energy market hostage
10 March 2026
Eni’s director for global gas and LNG portfolio, Cristian Signoretto, discusses how demand will respond to rising LNG supply, and how the company is expanding its own gas and LNG operations through disciplined, capital-efficient investments
9 March 2026
Petroleum Economist analysis sees increases in output from Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Kazakhstan among others before region’s murky descent
9 March 2026
Energy sanctions are becoming an increasingly prominent tool of US foreign policy, with the country’s growth in oil and gas production allowing it to impose pressure on rivals without jeopardising its own energy security or that of its allies, argues Matthew McManus, a visiting fellow at the National Center for Energy Analytics
