Image for Representation Photocredit: The Hindu
The growth of the demand for Diesel, the most consumed petroleum product in India, fell to the lowest since the pandemic in the financial year ending on March 31, while the economy is growing at a slower pace and consumption is shifting to cleaner fuels.
The diesel consumption rose by 2% to 91.4 million tons in 2024-25 (April 2024 to March 2025), according to provisional data released by the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) of the Oil Ministerie.
The growth in the demand for diesel, which is used to do trucks and agricultural machinery, in 2024-25 was slower than 4.3% in the previous tax and 12.1% in 2022-23.
Diesel accounts for around 40 percent of the oil used in India. Softness in demand growth reflects economic activity in the country.
But more than the economy, they are electric vehicles (EVs) that start to reform Diesel’s demand in India.
Industry officials said that Diesel is still flows three-quarters of India’s transport sector, but the growth is moderating because of the EV shift. The slower rise in consumption compared to gasoline was largely due to the commercial EV shift.
Electric buses are quickly adopted in cities such as Delhi and Mumbai, and electric car rickshaws (e-rickshaws) have become dominant in many Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities, so that the use of diesel in urban public transport is directly reduced.
Companies such as Amazon, Flipkart and BigBasket also change their delivery fleets to EVs. This shift mainly influences diesel-driven vans and LCVs (light commercial vehicles), which reduces demand in the logistics sector.
Fuel consumption rose by 7.5% to 40 million tons, while the demand for the LPG rose by 5.6% to 31.32 million tons.
As a result of the tree in the aviation sector, the consumption of the aircraft fuel increased by almost 9% by around 9 million tons in 2024-25.
The demand for Nafta, which is used as a fuel in the industry, decreased by 4.8% to 13.15 million tons, while fuel oil consumption of almost 1% decreased by 6.45 million tons.
Bitumen used in road construction, saw consumption fall by 5.4% at 8.33 million tons. The demand from the Petroleum Cokes had risen by 8.6%, as well as that of lubricants and fats whose use rose by 12.3%.
In general, the consumption of petroleum production in India increased by 21% to 239.171 million tons. This growth was slower than the 5% increase in 2023-24, 10.6% in the previous year and 3.8% in 2021-22.
The growth of oil consumption in 2024-25 was the slowest in a decade if the two COVID-19-Marred years of 2019-20-2019 and 2020-21 were excluded. In 2019-20-20-20019 and 2020-21 the oil question fell because the country was closed in most parts to prevent the spread of the pandemic.
For the current tax that started from 1 April, PPAC projected a growth of 5.7% in the oil demand to nearly 253 million tons. Diesel consumption is expected to increase by 3% to 94.1 million tonnes and gasoline by 6.5% to 42.63 million tonnes.
Published – April 14, 2025 10:17 pm is
