NEW DELHI: BJP on Friday pushed back at criticism over rise in fuel prices, saying India had effected the smallest increase among major economies and managed to shield consumers from global volatility since the West Asia conflict broke out before rolling out a calibrated hike.”This matters because fuel prices do not remain confined to petrol pumps. They affect transport costs, food inflation, manufacturing, logistics and household budgets. Containing fuel volatility is also about containing inflation,” BJP said, suggesting that the relatively small increase will not seriously impact inflation.The 3.2% increase in petrol price and 3.4% rise in diesel rate came even as major economies saw jump in fuel prices, BJP’s Amit Malviya said. The rise in petrol price was 44.5%, 9.7% and 19.2% in the US, Japan and the UK respectively, he said, listing the higher rise in other nations as well.
