Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Monday said India is the only country where rates of petrol and diesel have come down between November 2021 and April 2024.

Replying to various queries during Question Hour in Rajya Sabha, the minister also informed that the government is encouraging dialogue between Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) and dealers regarding margins for the latter.

Puri noted that petrol and diesel were deregulated during the UPA government.

Deregulation means that prices of the commodity in the market are not set by the government, he added.

"Prices here being high and elsewhere being low. It's exactly the opposite. In India today, the prices are the lowest and is the only country where prices have actually come down," Puri said.

He attributed this to very bold, ambitious and farsighted decisions taken by the Prime Minister.

"The prices in the world, I am giving you a two-year reference period between November 2021 and April 2024. Why I'm doing this because we have prices available. In India the price of petrol came down 13.65 per cent and of diesel 10.97 per cent," the minister said.

However, he said in France the increase in petrol price has been 22.19 per cent, Germany 15.28 per cent, Italy 14.82 per cent, Spain 16.58 per cent.

These are all published international figures of prices, he added.

Puri also highlighted that while prices in India have declined, the rates have gone up in neighbouring countries.

The minister also attacked the UPA government for floating oil bonds. "Oil bonds were floated for Rs 1.41 lakh crore. Today we are having to pay back Rs 3.5 lakh crore for that kind of a farsighted decision," he said.

On the dealers' margin increase, Puri said this is a commercial contractual situation between OMCs and the dealers whom they employ as part of that contract.

As of July 1, 2024, there are 90,639 retail outlets in the country of which about 90 per cent belong to public sector companies and rest to the private sector companies.

"We have been monitoring this, there are discussions going on between OMCs and the dealers. Last time the margins were increased was in 2017." Dealers went to court, because they saw that some of the conditions in the stipulated guidelines were somewhat stringent.

"So, when the dealer margin is raised, one of the conditions that the dealer has to comply with is to ensure that the wages to their employees are paid according to the minimum wages act.

"So OMCs won the case in the high court and then the dealers went up to the Supreme Court in 2022. It is sub judice but we are encouraging dialogue between OMCs and dealers and we would like to see them coming to a conclusion..," he said.

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