India approves fund to shield refiners, airlines from surging jet fuel costs in General Energy News 05/06/2026 The Indian government has agreed to provide a one-time financial support of Rupees 100 billion ($1.04 billion) to oil marketing companies as compensation for keeping jet fuel prices at affordable levels for both domestic and international operations, a move aimed at reducing the burden on passengers and airlines, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said and a cabinet statement showed June 3. “Cabinet approval for a one-time support mechanism to ensure greater stability in aviation turbine fuel prices for Indian airlines will help maintain affordable air connectivity, support airline operations, and reduce the burden on passengers. It will also strengthen connectivity to Tier-II and Tier-III cities, support tourism, and employment,” Modi wrote on X after the cabinet decision. The budgetary support will be in the form of interest-free advances to OMCs through demands for grants of the petroleum ministry, the statement said. “The support shall be provided to OMCs to facilitate stable ATF pricing for airlines during the ongoing period of exceptional fuel price volatility arising from the West Asia crisis. The corpus shall compensate OMCs for losses arising from elevated international ATF prices whenever the prevailing import parity price exceeds the benchmark price determined under the approved mechanism,” it added. When international jet fuel prices moderate, the differential amount would be recovered from OMCs and returned to the Consolidated Fund of India. The price stabilization support will be in force for a period of 36 months with provision for annual review or until the advance amount is fully recovered, whichever is earlier. The proposal may be extended beyond that with the approval of the competent authority in case the corpus is not fully utilized within this period. Fuel cost flexibility “The mechanism provides greater predictability in fuel costs by adopt