Ahmad Adil
15 May 2026•Update: 15 May 2026
Feeling the impact of the Middle East conflict on energy supplies, India on Friday announced its first fuel hike in over four years.
The price of petrol was raised by three rupees (3¢), which brought the price to 97.77 rupees ($1.2) per liter, and diesel to 90.67 ($.95) rupees per liter in New Delhi, public broadcaster All India Radio said Friday.
The hike, following no price rises since April 2022, came days after a top Indian official said Indian oil companies are facing heavy losses due to the fallout of the Middle East energy shock.
Officials said India’s oil marketing companies had absorbed losses of close to 10 billion Indian rupees ($104.5 million) a day, so that the “burden of global astronomical prices is not passed to Indian citizens.”
According to the government, India’s oil marketing companies have absorbed losses of close to 10 billion Indian rupees ($104.54 million) a day so that the “burden of global astronomical prices is not passed onto Indian citizens.”
India procures almost 50% of its energy supplies, worth $180 billion in 2024, from the Middle East. India last month announced that it has resumed oil purchases from Iran, for the first time in seven years, amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, which began on Feb. 28.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week urged people to reduce fuel consumption through measures such as working from home. Modi also cut the size of his motorcade to save fuel.
Authorities in New Delhi also announced two days a week of work from home for government employees.
Regional tensions have escalated since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Feb. 28, triggering retaliation from Tehran against Israel as well as US allies in the Gulf.
The Strait of Hormuz, a key global waterway through which roughly 20% of global oil shipments pass, has also faced severe disruption due to the conflict.
