Opposition parties have slammed the government over the fourth fuel price hike in ten days, pushing petrol in Delhi to ₹102.12 per litre and diesel to ₹95.20 per litre.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge accused the government of 'looting the public's earnings in installments', while Rahul Gandhi dubbed Prime Minister Narendra Modi as 'Inflation Man'.
The repeated hikes come amid rising global crude oil prices, with India's crude oil import basket surging to around USD 113 to 114 per barrel from roughly USD 69 per barrel in February.
Opposition leaders alleged the government deliberately held back increases during assembly elections and released them after polling concluded.
Kharge claimed that petrol in Delhi stood at ₹71.41 per litre when the BJP came to power in 2014 and now stands at ₹102.12, a rise of 43.01%, while diesel has moved from ₹56.71 to ₹95.20 per litre, a jump of 67.87%.
Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju defended the government, saying India limited the rise to just 3.2% for petrol and 3.4% for diesel, and that public sector oil companies absorbed huge losses to protect citizens from inflation and economic pressure.
