G7's price cap against Russian fuels will not affect India

New Delhi: The G7 countries, the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Japan, have imposed a price cap, meaning a sealing on the selling price of the fuel exported by Russia. According to this, other countries purchasing Russian fuel can purchase it at a rate of only $60 per barrel. But the Indian Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri clarified that this decision would not apply to India. Hardeep Singh Puri also pointed out that Iraq, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE) are the major suppliers of fuels to India, and India imports much fewer quantities from Russia than these volumes.

Moreover, 53% of the total fuel imported into India came from Iraq, Saudi Arabia and UAE. Whereas in the current fiscal, these three countries fulfilled 52% of the Indian fuel demand. The Petroleum Minister pointed out that this shows no major shift in the Indian fuel purchase policy even after the start of the Russia-Ukraine war. Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri also pointed out that the sanctions against the major fuel exporter countries, Iran and Russia, have had a major impact on the international fuel market.

China, a big importer of fuels, is currently reeling under a lockdown. Therefore, the oil-producing countries have decided to cut down production. Puri feared that if the fuel supplies from the United States, Russia and Saudi Arabia were affected, the crude oil rates would cross the $200 per barrel mark. Therefore, keeping the fuel supply secure became important, and the Indian Petroleum Minister justified the Indian decision to purchase fuels from Russia.

Meanwhile, Petroleum Minister Puri warned that not only fuels but the world is facing shortages of food grains and fertilisers.

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