With more people using personal vehicles amid the COVID-19 outbreak, India’s petrol consumption grew for the first time since February in September, with diesel demand also recovering month on month, reported Indian Express.
As per the Indian Express report, the petrol consumption last month, at 2,450 thousand metric tonnes (TMT), was even higher than for the corresponding period in 2019 (2,372 TMT). While, diesel consumption rose to 5,489 TMT, as much as 13.2% higher as compared to August, it was still 6% down as compared to September 2019.
Data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) of the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas show that consumption of refined fuels, a proxy for oil demand, rose 7.2% in September from the prior month to 15.47 million tonnes, the first monthly increase since June when demand rose to 16.09 million tonnes.
With coronavirus-induced lockdown and owing to restricted movement of vehicles, the fuel consumption in India collapsed after the government announced a nationwide lockdown on March 25. But, the demand initially recovered steadily following the lifting of the restrictions but stalled after June, when state and local government began imposing local-level lockdowns.
Meanwhile, petrol and diesel prices remained unchanged across the four metro cities on Sunday. Petrol prices remained constant for the 19h consecutive day, with the fuel priced at Rs 81.06 per litre in the national capital.
In Mumbai, Chennai, and Kolkata, petrol was priced at Rs 87.74, Rs 84.14 and Rs 82.59 per litre respectively. Similarly, diesel prices across the four cities remained unchanged for the 9th consecutive day. Prices in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, and Kolkata were Rs 70.46, Rs 76.86, Rs 75.95, and Rs 73.99 respectively.
