The increase came 16 days after the end of voting in the House of Representatives elections. Minister of Finance: Criticisms are “frivolous” and “shameful”
The BJP-led NDA government on Friday defended its decision to hike petrol and diesel prices by ₹3 per liter”> $3 per liter – the first such rise in more than four years – saying the move was financially unavoidable after state-owned oil companies absorbed huge losses for weeks amid rising global crude oil prices due to the US-Iran war and the broader conflict in West Asia.
Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) raised prices by 1. $3 per liter as of Friday. In Delhi, petrol is expensive now $97.77 per liter and diesel $90.67; It will have different prices across states depending on local fees
‘ $1000 Crores per day: Government says losses have increased
Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had already said that public sector oil marketing companies are incurring losses of Rs $1,000 crore per day to insulate consumers from the rise in global crude oil prices. “At some point, the government will have to answer the call,” Puri said at the CII’s annual business summit.
At the event, financial industry leader Uday Kotak also spoke about the “shock” which he said was “coming soon”.
Officials told news agencies that the three companies absorbed these losses for 76 days before announcing the increase.
‘India’s lowest rise’: BJP, government’s big defence
Union Minister Kiren Rijiju shared a comparative graph on X, showing fuel price increases in 25 countries since the conflict in West Asia began in late February.
According to the graph, Myanmar saw gasoline prices rise by 89.7% and diesel prices by 112.7%; Malaysia announced a 56.3% increase in gasoline prices and a 71.2% increase in diesel prices. The United States saw gasoline prices rise by 44.5% and diesel prices by 48.1%. China recorded increases of 21.7% in gasoline and 23.7% in diesel. The United Kingdom saw gasoline prices rise by 19.2% and Germany by 13.7%. Saudi Arabia, a huge oil producer, was the only country on Rigo’s list without any change.
India’s increase of 3.2% in petrol consumption and 3.4% in diesel fuel consumption was the lowest among all major market economies listed, Rijiju said.
The BJP-led NDA government on Friday defended its decision to hike petrol and diesel prices by ₹3 per liter”> $3 per liter – the first such rise in more than four years – saying the move was financially unavoidable after state-owned oil companies absorbed huge losses for weeks amid rising global crude oil prices due to the US-Iran war and the broader conflict in West Asia.
Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) raised prices by 1. $3 per liter as of Friday. In Delhi, petrol is expensive now $97.77 per liter and diesel $90.67; It will have different prices across states depending on local fees
‘ $1000 Crores per day: Government says losses have increased
Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had already said that public sector oil marketing companies are incurring losses of Rs $1,000 crore per day to insulate consumers from the rise in global crude oil prices. “At some point, the government will have to answer the call,” Puri said at the CII’s annual business summit.
At the event, financial industry leader Uday Kotak also spoke about the “shock” which he said was “coming soon”.
Officials told news agencies that the three companies absorbed these losses for 76 days before announcing the increase.
‘India’s lowest rise’: BJP, government’s big defence
Union Minister Kiren Rijiju shared a comparative graph on X, showing fuel price increases in 25 countries since the conflict in West Asia began in late February.
According to the graph, Myanmar saw gasoline prices rise by 89.7% and diesel prices by 112.7%; Malaysia announced a 56.3% increase in gasoline prices and a 71.2% increase in diesel prices. The United States saw gasoline prices rise by 44.5% and diesel prices by 48.1%. China recorded increases of 21.7% in gasoline and 23.7% in diesel. The United Kingdom saw gasoline prices rise by 19.2% and Germany by 13.7%. Saudi Arabia, a huge oil producer, was the only country on Rigo’s list without any change.
India’s increase of 3.2% in petrol consumption and 3.4% in diesel fuel consumption was the lowest among all major market economies listed, Rijiju said.
BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari said Congress was “politicizing a global crisis” by criticizing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s measures, including austerity in gold procurement.
The price of Brent crude, which was at $61 per barrel in January 2026, about a month before the war began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran, rose to $118 per barrel by the end of the first quarter of 2026.
This was the largest quarterly inflation-adjusted price increase ever, according to the US Energy Information Administration. This came because Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz after the military strikes it launched on February 28.
Opposition: “The Modi government’s mistake and the public will pay the price”
MP and opposition leader Rahul Gandhi posted on X: “Mistake on Modi government’s part, public will pay the price. Shock from $All three have already arrived, and the rest will be collected in instalments.
Congress Secretary-General Jairam Ramesh described the increase as “inevitable but politically timed”, saying it would exacerbate inflation, which is already expected to reach nearly 6% for the fiscal year, and would push down growth estimates.
Ramesh also raised the question of what happened when crude oil prices were low. “When global crude oil prices fell, as they have on seven different occasions over the past 12 years, consumer prices in India did not,” he wrote on X.
Gasoline prices in countries like the US and the UK are entirely market-based, which means they can fall when crude oil prices fall.
Congress leader Pawan Khera pointed out a specific comparison on the issue. In May 2014, the price of crude oil was $106.94 per barrel and the cost of gasoline $$71.71 per liter in Delhi Just before the West Asian conflict, the price of crude oil had fallen to about $70 per barrel, but gasoline was selling at $71.71 per litre. $He indicated 94.72 per litre.
Khaira noted that between 2014 and 2026, the government reviewed customs duties 21 times and increased them 12 times. He added that India’s purchase of Russian crude at a discount – a major flashpoint with Donald Trump’s America – has not translated into relief for consumers.
“Back in session”
“It looks like people will now have to go back to the cycle,” Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav said after the rally, referring to the SP’s election symbol.
He described Modi’s plea to save fuel as an “admission of failure” and questioned why the call for economic restraint appeared only after the elections were over.
This increase came 16 days after the end of assembly elections in the states of Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Puducherry.
Fuel prices remained unchanged throughout the entire election period despite the rise in international crude oil prices.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, responding to the opposition’s criticism, called it “frivolous” and “shameful” the “politicisation” of what she described as a general relief measure.
Industry observers have noted that $The October 3 increase represents nearly a tenth of the full market-consistent correction required to account for rising crude oil prices since the conflict began in West Asia, leaving open the question of whether additional increases will follow.
