Fuel sales growth dips in March on untimely rains

NEW DELHI: The pace of growth in India’s diesel and petrol consumption slowed to single digits in March as untimely rains caused by western disturbances disrupted harvesting in large parts of the country, affecting demand from the farm sector and related transportation needs.
Preliminary data shows diesel sales, considered a barometer of economic activities, growing a tad over 2% from a year ago in the month under review against 13% annual growth in February and 18.5% in January. Petrol sales grew at 5% from March 2022 against year-on-year growth of 11.9% in February and 17.6% in January.
The growth rate in jet fuel consumption stayed in double digits at 25.7% during the month under review but it was far lower than 40.9% year-on-year growth in February and 18.5% increase in January.
LPG, mostly consumed as household cooking gas, showed a negative growth of 2.9% in March against 2.4% annual increase in February and a mere 0.18% in January.
Sequentially, however, the growth pattern was in the positive, except LPG. March diesel consumption was 4.5% more than February, while petrol sales were 3.4% higher. Jet fuel sales too notched up a 4.5% monthly increase. LPG, however, recorded a degrowth of 6.5% in March versus February.