New Delhi, May 13 -- At some stage the government has to take a view on raising prices of petroleum products such as petrol and diesel, petroleum minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Tuesday said, laying the ground for a fuel price hike that now seems imminent. Since Sunday, the government has sought to set the context for this-with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday in Hyderabad, calling for people to conserve both energy and foreign exchange, and reiterating it on Monday in Vadodara. On Monday, officials at an inter-ministerial briefing on the impact of the war in West Asia on India said the petroleum ministry was working on what they termed "austerity measures". Puri added on Tuesday that PM Modi's appeal for austerity was a proactive step in a precarious global energy situation. To be sure, many countries, as HT noted on Tuesday, have already announced such measures. India likely held back on account of the latest round of assembly elections, but with results declared last week, there's nothing to hold its hand now. Participating in a special plenary session, Forging a New Energy Equation , at CII Annual Business Summit in New Delhi, the petroleumn minister assured the country of uninterrupted energy supplies. India has stocks of 60 days of crude, 60 days of liquefied natural gas (LNG), and 45 days of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG or cooking gas), he said. "So, there is no problem on the supply side." "So, why this panic since yesterday, or day-and-a-half?," he asked. The stock market reacted adversely to the PM's comments, for they also suggest vulnerability on the current account front, and opposition parties have been quick to criticise the government's handling of the situation. But Puri presented them as a recognition of what is happening and preparing for the worst. "Please see what the Hon'ble Prime Minister has actually said, and let's not put a bizarre construct on it," he said citing President Trump's statement that the ceasefire agreement with Iran is on life-support, an indicator that the war may continue, exacerbating the energy crisis....