NEW DELHI — While global crude oil prices have surged from $70 to $126 per barrel, domestic petrol and diesel prices remain comfortably anchored in the economic realities of May 2022. Ministry officials praised this remarkable divergence on Tuesday, noting that a Rs 2 per litre price cut issued nationwide in March 2024 has successfully insulated the voting public from the laws of supply and demand.

"We are deeply committed to shielding the common man from international price shocks," a ministry spokesperson said, shortly after the government approved a Rs 993 increase in commercial LPG cylinders to partially offset the losses absorbed by public sector oil marketing companies. "By keeping the numbers on the petrol pump display entirely static, we ensure citizens only pay for this global crisis indirectly through the rising cost of literally everything else."

According to internal documents, this carefully managed streak of price stability is expected to continue until the deployment of a long-delayed Rs 4 to 5 per litre "catch-up" hike, tentatively scheduled for the precise moment the final ballots are counted in the next major election.