New Delhi, July 2 -- NEW DELHI - India's three state-owned oil marketing companies absorbed Rs.74,781 crore in fuel losses during the West Asia crisis, Oil Minister Hardeep Puri disclosed Thursday, revealing for the first time the full price of India's decision to hold pump prices stable as Brent crude spiked above $126 per barrel.

That is roughly $9 billion - a figure that kept Indian households insulated from the worst oil shock in years while Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum, and Hindustan Petroleum quietly bled. The government chose price stability over profit margins, and the oil companies absorbed the difference.

The political calculation bought India time. While the crisis forced European refiners to scramble for alternat...