oppn parties Fuel: High Prices Will Rule In The Medium Term

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  • Allahabad HC said that the UP Police is acting as law unto themselves as they detained a person unlawfully even before his arrest
  • Kolkata witnesses traffic snarls on the first day of the Durga Puja festival as revellers start pnadal-hopping
  • Neha Bora was subsequently released and Dipke is to appear before a magistrate today at noon
  • Delhi Police detained Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke, Neha Bora of AISA, student leaders and supporters ahead of a rally in Connaught Place demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation. The protest followed the detention and jailing of two CJP leaders earlier in the week over demonstrations at Jantar Mantar
  • The Reserve Bank of India is considering further monetary tightening to counter capital outflows and increase the cost of betting against the rupee, according to bankers and analysts cited by Reuters. The measures follow recent rate increases and steps to drain liquidity as pressure on the currency and inflation concerns persist
  • India directed oil marketing companies to stop diverting sugar-based feedstocks for ethanol production in the 2026–27 supply year, according to a new tender issued on Friday. The companies have invited bids for 11 billion litres of ethanol made from alternatives including corn and broken rice, amid concerns about domestic sugar supplies and prices
  • Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India's trade imbalance with China was growing sharply and attributed the problem partly to restrictions on Indian goods and services entering the Chinese market. China subsequently said it was ready to work with India to address mutual economic and trade concerns; India's trade deficit with China reached $69 billion in the first half of FY2026–27, up 27% year-on-year
  • Indian equity benchmarks extended their recovery on Friday, with the Sensex rising 413.66 points to close at 74,729.27 and the Nifty 50 gaining 148.80 points to settle at 23,146.15. Information technology shares, including Tech Mahindra, Infosys and TCS, helped lift the indices
  • India defeated Zimbabwe by four wickets in the opening women's T20 International in Raipur, taking a 1–0 lead in the three-match series. Deepti Sharma and Niki Prasad combined in an 82-run stand after India's top order collapsed, helping the hosts chase down Zimbabwe's total of 114 for five
  • Indian wrestler Komal won bronze in the women's 59 kg category at the Under-23 World Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas, defeating Kazakhstan's Viktoriia Khusainova 7–2. Fellow Indian Amruta Pujari advanced to the women's 72 kg final after recording two pinfall victories
  • Indian shuttler Jagsher Singh Khangurra secured a bronze medal at the BWF World Junior Badminton Championships in Cairo
  • The Supreme Court of India upheld the Bombay High Court's decision quashing the 2020 write-off of ₹8,415 crore in additional tier-1 bonds issued by Yes Bank (Yes Bank). The court ruled that the bank's administrator lacked the authority to extinguish the bonds under the final reconstruction scheme, strengthening bondholders' claims
  • The Supreme Court issued notices to the Election Commission of India, Delhi Police and opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav, in separate petitions concerning electoral-roll revision and protests held in Delhi on October 10–12. The court also directed the preservation of CCTV footage linked to allegations of police excesses
  • The Supreme Court ruled that a person converting from Hinduism to Islam cannot automatically claim backward-class reservation benefits in the new religious community solely on the basis of their previous caste status. The judgment upheld the Madras High Court's decision striking down a 2024 Tamil Nadu government order that permitted such certification for specified communities
  • The Election Commission of India ordered a Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls in 14 states and three Union Territories, using January 1, 2027, as the qualifying date for voter eligibility. The draft rolls are scheduled for publication on November 12, claims and objections will be accepted until December 11, and the final rolls are due on January 4, 2027
Delhi HC refuses to ban CJP's Tiranga rally at Central Park in Connaught Place today /////// Police says will control and regulate it /////// NDMC closes the park for the public on Friday and Saturday
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Fuel: High Prices Will Rule In The Medium Term

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2022-03-09 07:21:02

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator. Author of Cyber Scams in India, Digital Arrest, The Money Trap and The Human Hack

Fuel prices in India remained high throughout the last two years as the cash-strapped government earned huge revenue through high taxes on them. But since the last nearly four months, there has been a freeze on pump prices due to the elections in five states. During this time, even before the war started in Ukraine, the price of Brent crude had increased from $74.17 in December 2021 to $97.13 in February 2022. Yet, pump prices in India have remained unchanged at Rs 95.41 in Delhi, Rs 109.98 in Mumbai, Rs 104.67 in Kolkata and Rs 101.40 in Chennai.

The war in Ukraine has changed all calculations with the price of Brent crude shooting up to $130 per barrel (at the time of writing this article, the Brent crude oil continuous contract price was ruling at $130.92). Although this level is unlikely to prevail for long, there is also the fear that if the war continues for long, prices might shoot up further. With the US banning Russian oil imports and the Russians threatening to turn off gas supply to Europe, the scenario remains grim. High fuel prices for even two or three months will put a lot of pressure on both production budgets of companies and household budgets since inflation will shoot up to dangerous levels.

Oil companies have asked the government for a price hike of Rs 6 per litre to begin with. While this is a realistic figure given the fact pump prices have remained frozen for four months, yet an increase of nearly 5-6 percent at one go is likely to lead to protests and inflationary pressures. That is not all. If Brent continues to remain at inflated levels, oil companies will ask for another hike within 15/20 days and it might also be in the range of Rs 4-6. That would create a lot of pressure on the economy. The government has said that it is exploring all angles, including lowering Central taxes, requesting the states to lower their taxes and asking the oil companies to absorb some losses to ensure that consumers do not suffer much. But it is clear that high pump prices will continue to rule for even if Brent crude prices fall to $90 per barrel, they will be much higher than $74 per barrel in December 2021 when pump prices were last revised in India. 

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