India's Fuel Price Hike Still The Lowest Across The World

India is the only major economy in the world to have held kept fuel prices unchanged through the first 76 days of the Hormuz disruption, the government said.

23 May 2026, 07:30 · www.ndtv.com

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Fuel prices in India rise again amid Middle East war, marking third hike in nine days
Petrol in Delhi up Rs 4.75/litre and diesel up Rs 4.82/litre since May 15
India's fuel price rise is smallest among major economies facing the oil shock

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New Delhi:

Fuel gets costlier from today in India as it continues to absorb the global oil shock due to Middle East war. With a third hike under nine days, petrol prices have gone up Rs 4.75 per litre (5%) in Delhi since May 15, while diesel prices have increased by Rs 4.82 (5.49%).

The three hikes follow an unending war in the Middle East that has choked the Strait of Hormuz, which handles one-fifth of the global oil supplies, sending crude prices to record highs.

This period saw the world panicking and passing the increased costs to consumers, but India held tightly on fuel pricing, until the first hike on May 15. India is the only major economy in the world to have held kept fuel prices unchanged through the first 76 days of the Hormuz disruption, the government said.

Read: Why Oil Companies Have Hiked Petrol, Diesel Prices Third Time in 9 Days

They pointed out that the cumulative revision was just under Rs 5 a litre across the three hikes on May 15, 19, and 23, and that this was the smallest increase of any major economy outside the directly subsidising Gulf producers.

In contrast, petrol price in the US had gone up by 44.5% between February 23 and May 23, 52.4% in the UAE, 54.9% in Pakistan, 19.2% in the UK, 16.7% in Bangladesh, and 9.7% in Japan.

Further stressing that it has worked towards consumer protection, redemption of past liabilities, and absorption of present losses, the government claimed that the states that tax fuel most heavily are governed by the opposition.

Read: Petrol Now Costs Rs 110 In Kolkata, 99 In Delhi: Know Fuel Prices In Your City

The government also pointed out that India was the only major economy in the world to have cut retail fuel prices through the Russia-Ukraine war.

In the last four years, which saw the Russia-Ukraine war and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the government had cut the central excise on petrol and diesel four times, absorbing around Rs 30,000 crore of revenue in the most recent cut alone, and redeemed over Rs 1.30 lakh crore of UPA-era oil bonds, it said.

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