NEW DELHI: India’s fuel demand in March 2022 rose to pre-pandemic level as it witnessed a growth of 4.2% in the month. According to the data released by the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell on Monday, the total consumption of petroleum products in March is 19.41 million tonnes, the highest since March 2019.
The reason for a sudden hike in demand, many believe, is stocking up by consumers and petrol pumps in anticipation of a price hike. The demand for diesel, the most used fuel in the country, rose by 6.7% to 7.7% to 7.7 million tonnes in March. Petrol sales, which crossed the pre-Covid levels a few months ago, was up by 6.1% to 2.91 million tonnes.
The increase in consumption of transport fuel highlights that the country is coming out from the deep impact of Covid-19. In March 2022, diesel consumption was higher also due to strong demand from the agriculture sector.
The demand for Cooking gas (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) also grew by 9.8% to 2.48 million tonnes in March 2022. Similarly, Jet fuel also witnessed a hike of 35% to 5 million tonnes. However, it is less than 8 million tonnes consumption in the pre-pandemic year because full aviation services resumed only at the end of March.