India's June fuel demand edges up 2.6%
India's fuel consumption rose by 2.6% year-on-year to 19.99 metric MMt in June from a year earlier, data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell of the oil ministry showed on Monday.
India is the world's third-biggest oil importer and consumer. The data is a proxy for the country's oil demand.
Prashant Vasisht, vice president and co-head, corporate ratings at India Credit Rating Agency (ICRA), said there had been solid economic growth in India, "…and there was a lot of tourist activity this year as compared to last year. Jet fuel has been gradually improving...In the power sector the power supplies were more regular, leading to the farming and agricultural sector being well supplied and that has also led to less dependence on diesel."
Total consumption totaled 19.99 metric MMt in June, up from 19.48 MMt last year, data showed. Demand was down 3.5% on a monthly basis from the 20.72 MMt consumed in May.
Sales of diesel, mainly used by trucks and commercially run passenger vehicles, fell 5% month-on-month to 7.98 MMt in June. It was up 1% from a year earlier. Sales of gasoline rose 4.6% from the previous year to 3.30 MMt, although sales dropped 4.8% from May levels.
Demand for bitumen, used for making roads, gained by more than 4% annually. Cooking gas, or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), sales rose by 3.2% to 2.31 MMt, while naphtha sales gained by 1.4% to about 1.07 MMt, compared with last June, the data showed.
Fuel oil use increased by nearly 5% year-on-year in June.
Asia's third-largest economy is the fastest-growing among major peers and grew 8.2% in the last fiscal year, but GDP was expected to slow modestly this fiscal year. Activity in India's manufacturing sector rebounded in June as output increased on robust demand, leading to the fastest rate of hiring in more than 19 yr, despite inflationary pressures remaining elevated, a survey showed.
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