New Delhi: A widely shared chart posted by many pro-government journalists on social media highlights that India’s recent fuel hike was as low as 3%, while countries like the US, UAE and Canada saw spikes ranging from 30% to 80%. This makes India look like a global outlier in price stability and shows that the Modi government is protecting the consumers.However, it is a misleading view covering a short time-period that ignores the starting price of fuel. It is because India did not lower fuel prices when global crude oil crashed in previous years.Moreover, the data is a reactive snapshot that captures a moment of global volatility where market-linked countries saw sudden jumps. What is needed is a structural overview of data that captures the decade-long reality of the Indian consumer under Prime Minister Narendra Modi where fuel prices were kept high even before the crisis in West Asia.Also read: Govt Hikes Petrol, Diesel Prices by Rs 3 Per Litre, Opposition Slams MoveThe Base Effect is the primary reason the data set is not correct. India’s fuel prices have remained high even when global crude oil prices fell, primarily due to the Modi government’s control over the pump prices. These heavy profits, where the pump prices did not reflect the low crude rates, went to the union government as cesses, excise and high dividends from PSUs.The misleading data set presents fuel price increases as a percentage over a specific, limited window. While mathematically accurate, this presentation is functionally incomplete. In countries with market-linked pricing such as the USA or UAE, domestic pump prices fluctuate immediately with global crude oil. During a global energy spike, these countries therefore show massive percentage jumps in retail fuel prices.When the timeframe is expanded to a decade, as done by Manoj Arora, the data reveals a different trend. This long-term view accounts for a period under Prime Minister Modi where global oil prices dropped but domestic prices in India did not follow suit.Photo courtesy: X/Manoj Arora.In this chart, India’s ten-year increase of 63% is significantly higher than that of major economies like the USA (36%), Germany (40%) and South Korea (39%). While India is not the highest on the list – Australia is at 67% – it remains in the top tier of fuel price inflation over the last decade, contradicting the low hike narrative propagated by pro-government journalists.Photo courtesy: X/Sajith Gowda.Because Indian pump prices were kept artificially high under Prime Minister Modi, short-term percentage increases will almost always look lower than those in market-linked economies. However, evidence shows that over a ten-year period, India has experienced one of the steepest climbs in fuel costs among major global economies.