Petroleum Minister Hardeep Puri on what might prompt oil companies to cut fuel prices

Indian oil companies will be able to take a call on cutting petrol and diesel prices if international crude rates stay in stable territory, Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on June 10.
It will also be a function of how these entities perform; if oil companies do well in the next quarter, they will be in a better position to look at the issue, the minister said.

He, however, was quick to add that he was not in a position to make an announcement on the matter. "As we go along we will see what can be done," Puri told mediapersons at the BJP headquarters in Delhi.

The media had asked him questions on petroleum prices and if the govt was looking to bring them down.

As for Indian oil companies' performance in the last quarter, Puri said they did 'okay'. "They have recovered some of their losses. They have been very good corporate citizens. As we go along we will see what can be done," he said.

While pricing is a dynamic issue, Modi government has not allowed oil prices to go up since April 22, he said. The government will make sure that consumers face no hardship, he insisted.

Taking jibe at opposition parties, Puri said one may like to give everything for "free" but then they enter the dangerous territory of freebie politics. He minister accused the opposition parties of doing "revdi politics".

Non-BJP states that make a big issue of fuel prices are the one who have not cut VAT and are selling petrol and diesel at higher prices than in BJP-ruled states, he pointed out.

He praised Modi for "pursuing policies that kept availability and affordability under control while also pushing sustainability by promoting green energy". For a comparison, just jook at the scale of power crises some of India's neighbours are facing, he said of Pakistan and Sri Lanka without naming them.

Puri also took a swipe at Raghuram Rajan over his forecast that India may not grow any faster than 5-5.5 per cent. Should the former RBI Governor not acknowledge his mistake as India clocked 7.2 per cent growth in the last fiscal, he asked.

Puri called Rajan and other critics of India "prophets of doom".

Mocking Rahul Gandhi over his statement that Modi govt always looks into the rear view mirror to blame others, Puri said, "His eyesight should be checked. He may be wearing wrong glasses."