Bengaluru, March 8: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday expressed concern over rising global crude oil prices and indicated that the government is weighing the option of tapping alternative oil sources to keep domestic supplies steady.
Brent crude oil prices on Tuesday exceeded $127 a barrel in intraday trade, as the possibility of American sanctions against Russian oil supplies stoked fresh concerns over supply.
Speaking at an interactive session organised by BJP’s Karnataka unit, the minister said: “It (rising crude prices) will have a bearing. We have made some provisions for it in the Budget. But that provision is only based on some average (price) prevailing earlier but now (the price) is beyond that. So, we will have to see how we can work it out.
“How much we are going to be prepared to take it as a challenge and mitigate the impact is something which we will have see as we go (along),” she added.
