India’s diesel consumption fell 7.5 percent in November due to a decline in demand in the transport sector, where some people took the Diwali holiday. As revealed by preliminary data from state-owned companies on Friday.
Diesel consumption declined to 6.78 million tonnes in November from 7.33 million tonnes a year ago. Industry officials said this is because some truck drivers take Diwali leave to go home. And this month the demand is going to come back to a great extent.
Diesel is the most consumed fuel in India, accounting for about 40 percent of all petroleum products consumed. The transportation sector accounts for 70 percent of the total diesel sales in the country.
Petrol sales at three state-run fuel retailers rose 7.5 per cent to 2.86 million tonnes due to increased private vehicle movement during the festive season.
A decline in fuel consumption has been observed in the last few months.
In the first half of October, petrol demand fell 9 per cent year-on-year and diesel sales fell 3.2 per cent. But the onset of Navratri/Durga Puja festival helped reverse this trend. Diesel demand declined by 12.1 percent in the first half of November and showed some improvement in the second half.
However, diesel sales were 3.6 percent higher month-on-month compared to 6.5 million tonnes in October.
Diesel sales usually fall during the monsoon months. Because rain reduces demand in the agricultural sector which uses fuel for irrigation, harvesting and transportation. Apart from this, rain also reduces vehicular movement.
Due to this, diesel consumption has declined in the last three months. And once the monsoon ended, consumption increased month-on-month.
Diesel consumption had increased by 6.7 percent and 9.3 percent in April and May respectively. Because agricultural demand increased and cars adopted air conditioning to escape the summer heat. After the arrival of monsoon, it started decreasing in the second fortnight of June. The decline stopped in October, but sales fell again in November.
Petrol consumption during November was 20.1 percent higher than COVID-19-affected November 2021 and 25 percent higher than November 2019 before the pandemic. Diesel consumption was 18.1 percent higher than November 2021 and 1.2 percent higher than November 2019.
Jet fuel (ATF) sales rose 6.1 percent year-on-year to 620,000 tonnes in November. But it was 7.5 percent less than November 2019. Mainly because not all international flights have resumed after the pandemic. ATF consumption was 31.6 percent higher compared to November 2021. But that was less than the 670,200 tonnes used in pre-Covid November 2019.
Jet fuel sales were up 1.4 percent month-on-month compared to 611,300 tonnes in October 2023. Sales of cooking gas (LPG) in November declined 0.9 percent year-on-year to 2.57 million tonnes. LPG consumption was 6.9 percent higher than November 2021 and 14 percent higher than pre-Covid November 2019.
Month-on-month, LPG demand grew by 2 per cent against LPG consumption of 2.52 million tonnes during October, the data showed.