Petrol prices up by only 5% as against 50% in developed nations, says Union Minister Puri in LS
Image credit: Deccan Herald
The Opposition claimed that Operation Ganga was an “operation conveyance,” not an “operation evacuation,” according to the Petroleum Minister.
Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri remarked in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday that in the context of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, petrol prices in India had risen by only 5%, compared to over 50% in certain developed countries.
Intervening in a brief Upper House debate on the “Situation in Ukraine,” the Minister refuted the Opposition’s claim that Operation Ganga was an “operation transport” rather than an “operation evacuation.”
In the final stages of Operation Ganga, the Indian government organised buses in Ukraine to transport stranded students to bordering countries, according to the Minister, who was one of the special envoys dispatched to Ukraine’s neighbouring countries to arrange the evacuation of Indians.
According to the Minister, India’s increase in petrol costs in the aftermath of the conflict was quite minimal when compared to developed and emerging countries.
Petrol costs have risen by more than 50% in countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, and Sri Lanka, according to him. In the case of India, the growth came out to barely 5%, he added.
The Minister also denied the Opposition’s claim that the Indian mission’s advice to students prior to the actual commencement of the war was unclear and ambiguous.
Many students chose to stay, he added, likely on the advice of Ukrainian educational institutions that things would return to normal soon or out of fear of missing a year if they left.
Later, he said, 18,000 stranded students were brought home from several countries surrounding Ukraine as part of Operation Ganga.
Before the real war broke out, the Indian mission in Ukraine took preventive measures by inviting students to register.
He claimed that Operation Ganga would be among the most successful evacuation operations ever carried out by any country, anywhere in the world.
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