Petrol, diesel, LPG consumption rise in June; ATF languishes

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Powered by a low-base effect, petrol consumption jumped by as much as 21%, diesel by 12% and LPG consumption rose by 4.38% in June compared to May, the worst month of the second wave. In FY21, the fuel consumption in the country shrunk by as much as 9.1%, the first such instance in more than two decades.

PPAC data

According to data issued by Petroleum Planning & Analysis Cell, an arm of the petroleum ministry, demand for petrol increased from 19,91,000 tonnes in May to 24,09,000 tonnes in June while that for diesel rose from 55,38,000 tonnes to 62,03,000 tonnes in the same period.

However, despite the jump, the demand for diesel fell short from the levels in April, when it was 66,83,000 tonnes. The consumption of petrol in April stood at 23,86,000 tonnes, lower than that in June.

Diesel is the fuel on which the transport of goods across the country depends.

ATF lagging

But the demand for aviation turbine fuel (ATF) that is used to fly aircraft was languishing at 258,000 tonnes in June. The demand for ATF was more both in May (268,000 tonnes) and April (413,000 tonnes).

June witnessed a rise in demand for kitchen fuel. LPG consumption rose at 22,63,000 tonnes compared to 21,68,000 tonnes in May and 21,14,000 tonnes in April.

Bitumen down

Bitumen that is used in road construction also remained at levels lower than both the consumption figures in April and May.

While the consumption of bitumen was 658,000 tonnes in April, it fell to 532,000 tonnes in May. The decline continued in June with consumption at 509,000 tonnes.

Decline in FY21

India’s fuel consumption shrunk by as much as 9.1% in FY21, the first such instance in more than two decades.

PPAC data showed that the country consumed 194.63 million tonnes of petroleum products in 2020-21 as compared with 214.12 million tonnes demand in the previous year. This was the first time that the fuel consumption contracted since 1998-99, the earliest year for which government data is available.