Fuel consumption in India grew at a slower rate of 5 per cent in the last fiscal ended on March 31, on the back of slower growth in diesel demand. According to the data from Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) of the oil ministry, demand for fuels and other petroleum products rose to 194.2 million tonne (MT) in 2016-17 as compared to 184.6 MT in the previous fiscal.
As per the data, the demand growth was slower than 11.5 per cent registered in 2015-16 when consumption had increased to 184.67 MT as compared to 165.5 MT in the previous year. Demand for diesel, the most consumed fuel in the country, grew by 1.8 per cent to 74.6 MT in the financial year 2016-17 as against consumption growth of 7.5% in 2015-16.
Data further highlighted that, in the last fiscal, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) sales rose by 9.8 per cent to 19.6 MT as government released 2 crore new connections for the poor. Also, petrol consumption was up 8.8 per cent to 21.84 MT on the back of rise in two-wheeler and car sales. The demand for Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) climbed 12 per cent to 7 MT in the last fiscal from 6.2 MT a year ago. However, kerosene demand was down by a steep 21 per cent to 6.8 MT as government restricted supply of subsidised cooking fuel only to the identified needy. Also, LPG replaced it as a cooking fuel in many households. During March, fuel demand fell 0.6 per cent to 17.35 MT.
According to the data, petrol sales were up 2.9 per cent at 2.1 MT but diesel consumption showed a marginal 0.3 per cent rise at 6.8 MT. LPG demand was too was up only 1.9 per cent while kerosene sales fell by a massive 26 per cent to 414,000 tonne. While naphtha demand surged 1.8 per cent to 1.14 MT, sales of bitumen, used for making roads, was lower by 12.2 per cent. In March, fuel oil use edged lower 23.4 per cent to 567,000 tonne.