Government exploring options to get affordable crude, says finance ministry

NEW DELHI : The government is exploring all viable options, including import diversification, to procure crude at an affordable price, a finance ministry report said on Thursday. It added that the present level of global crude oil price, should it persist for long, may come in the way of India achieving a real economic growth rate north of 8% for FY23.
The Brent crude price, which forms the bulk of the Indian crude oil basket, has hovered at $105-106 per barrel since April 1, after having risen above $135 in the first/second week of March from around $95 just before the crisis, it said. The report said that in future, elevated prices of energy & other commodities and supply side disruptions due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict pose a challenge to the growth trajectory. They also pose upside risks to inflation. The magnitude of the impact would depend on the persistence of high prices.