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India has appointed new oil and steel ministers as part of an overhaul of prime minister Narendra Modi's cabinet.
Hardeep Singh Puri has been named as the new oil minister yesterday in place of Dharmendra Pradhan, who takes over the education ministry. Puri was previously civil aviation minister. Ramchandra Prasad Singh has been appointed as the new steel minister, replacing Pradhan, who held the role jointly with that of oil minister.
The change comes as India faces record-high retail motor fuel prices, partly because of domestic taxes that make up 60pc of pump prices.
Pradhan previously blamed higher global benchmark oil prices for the surging retail values and has been vocal in urging Opec+ to ease its supply curbs.
"The major task at hand for Puri will be the privatisation of state-controlled BPCL, which has been delayed due to initial subdued interest among the investor fraternity coupled with the pandemic-induced slowdown," said Ajay Kedia, director at Kedia Advisory in Mumbai.
Interest in the BPCL sell-off has been moderate, with only Indian private-sector firm Vedanta and two US investment funds submitting bids. The government is selling a 53pc stake in the company, but the buyer must also acquire an extra 26pc from the public, according to securities regulations.
"The challenge must not be much different from his experience with the inordinately delayed privatisation of Air India, which he tried to achieve during his stint as the civil aviation minister," Kedia said.
Gasoline prices rose above 100 rupees a litre for the first time ever in a major city last month and are now at around Rs106/l ($1.42/l) in Mumbai. Diesel is sold at around Rs97/l in the same city.
The change in the oil and gas ministry "is cosmetic and has political overtones" said Naveen Kumar Gupta, secretary general of the All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC), which represents truckers and private-sector bus operators across India.
The departure of Pradhan and arrival of Puri "will not make any difference as the new minister too will be toeing the party line rather taking people-centric decisions," he said. "No benefit seems to accrue to the people of India in terms of a reduction in fuel or cooking gas prices."
Puri will continue to hold his housing and urban affairs portfolio. Jyotiraditya Scindia has been appointed as the new Civil Aviation minister.

