NEW DELHI — Following reports of anxiety-driven queues at gas agencies in Kolkata, Bengaluru, and Mumbai, government officials held a press briefing Tuesday to reassure the nation that India remains an "oasis of energy security" brimming with fuel that citizens should immediately stop consuming.
"There is absolutely no shortage of oil and gas," a petroleum ministry spokesperson stated, citing national refineries currently operating at 100% capacity. "We are simply asking that, in light of this uninterrupted supply, citizens shift all schooling to online classes, halt their consumption of imported products, and stop spending foreign currency entirely. But there is no crisis."
The administration has repeatedly ruled out placing official restrictions on petrol and diesel sales amid escalating tensions in West Asia. Instead, it has opted to frame severe household conservation as a patriotic duty, allowing the government to maintain an image of total economic resilience while quietly transferring the burden of global fuel costs onto the public.
"We strongly advise against panic buying," the official added, reiterating that the nation's energy corridors through the Strait of Hormuz remain perfectly secure. "The fuel is definitely out there. We just need you to manage the unacknowledged cost crisis by voluntarily pretending that it isn't."