West Asia Crises: Finance minster issues statement on Lockdown, Petroleum minister cuts duty on Oil

West Asia Crises: Finance minster issues statement on Lockdown, Petroleum minister cuts duty on Oil

Kanwar Inder Singh/ royalpatiala.in News/ March 27,2026

There shall not be any lockdown,” Nirmala Sitharaman dismisses reports suggesting Govt could push for lockdown amid West Asia crisis.

As per ANI, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has dismissed reports that suggested the government could consider a lockdown like measure as fuel shortages loomed.

The Finance Minister called such reports baseless and said that there was no such move being considered

“I want to reassure people that there shall not be any lockdown. I am surprised that some leaders are saying there will be a lockdown and there will be shortages of fuel. These are baseless. Such remarks coming from those in political domains are worrisome. There will be no lockdown such as we saw during Covid. I want to reassure people that there shall be no such lockdown as we saw in Covid,” she said.

On the other hand, amid fears of a fuel price spike due to the US-Israel war on Iran, the government on Friday slashed excise duties for petrol and diesel by Rs 10 per litre each, bringing them down to Rs 3 per litre of petrol and zero for a litre of diesel.

Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said: “International crude prices have gone through the roof in the last month, from around US$70 per barrel to around US$122 per barrel. Consequently, petrol and diesel prices for consumers have gone up all over the world. Prices have increased by around 30 to 50 per cent in South East Asian countries, 30 per cent in North American countries, 20 per cent in Europe, and 50 per cent in African countries.”