India lowers fuel taxes, says rumours of lockdown ‘completely false’

India, the world’s third biggest crude importer, announces measures amid shortages created by the Iran war.India has lowered fuel taxes in a bid to protect consumers from rising global energy prices – a result of the United States and Israel’s war on Iran.Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said in a post on X on Friday that authorities were forced to choose between drastically increasing fuel prices amid the crisis or taking a “hit on its own finances” to protect buyers.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4US-Israel war on Iran: What’s happening on day 28 of attacks?list 2 of 4Oil prices rise higher as Iran denies US talks, dimming deescalation hopeslist 3 of 4Large Polymarket, Wall Street bets on Trump’s war news under scrutinylist 4 of 4Sri Lanka braces for new economic crisis as war on Iran continuesend of listPetrol duties were slashed from 13 rupees ($0.14) per litre (0.26 gallon) to 3 rupees ($0.032) per litre, according to a government order on Thursday. Similarly, the 10-rupee (0.11) per litre duty on diesel will be completely removed.Oil prices have surged past $100 per barrel following Iran’s near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz after Israel and the US launched attacks on February 28.India is the world’s third largest crude importer and a net exporter of refined products. New Delhi gets about 40 percent of its crude via the passageway, but authorities say there’s “no shortage” amid the war, and that current reserves will cover 74 days.Singh also debunked rumours of an impending lockdown as a result of the energy crisis, saying they are “completely false” and that India is “resilient”.It is unclear whether pump prices will change for ordinary consumers. Analysts say oil companies previously selling at a loss will be the ones to benefit from the tax cuts.Speaking to Reuters, Madhavi Arora, an economist at Emkay Global, estimated the annualised fiscal hit at nearly 1.55 trillion rupees ($16.3bn).Meanwhile, finance authorities reimposed export taxes on diesel and aviation fuel, raising them to 21.5 rupees ($0.23) and 29.5 ($0.31) rupees per litre respectively, after previously scrapping them in 2024.