While the citizens pay exorbitant prices for petrol and diesel, both the public sector and the oil companies owned by corporate magnates are reaping huge profits by exporting refined oil to Europe. In the context of the embargo imposed by the Western countries following the Russian war with Ukraine, Russia had agreed to sell crude oil to India at a lower price than the international market price. Reports reveal that the oil companies have accrued a huge profit amounting to <a></a>Rs. 88,200 crores till May 2024 since the beginning of the war in 2022. According to the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCIS), the profit earned by these companies in the 2023-24 financial year is Rs. 45,612 crores, and it will exceed one lakh crore by September. The government that is supposed to ensure the welfare of the people of the country is supporting this daylight robbery by its crony corporates who pinch the pockets of the common man by selling fuel at higher prices within the country.