March saw the seasonal slowdown kicking in with a rise in temperatures.
Diesel, the most consumed fuel in the country, saw demand slip 10.2 per cent to 3.18 million tonnes from March 1 to 15 when compared with 3.54 million tonnes of sales in the same period a year back. Month-on-month the demand was down 4.6 per cent.
During the first half of February, petrol consumption had jumped by almost 18 per cent year-on-year while
The consumption of petrol in the first half of March was 16.4 per cent more than the Covid-marred first half of March 2021 and almost 23 per cent more than in the same period of 2020.
Diesel consumption was up 11.5 per cent over the first half of March 2021 and 20.2 per cent higher than in 2020.
While cold conditions slowed truck movements in January, the onset of spring revived demand in February.
With the continued opening of the aviation sector, India's overall passenger traffic at airports inched closer to pre-Covid levels.
Reflecting the trend, jet fuel (ATF) demand jumped 19.2 per cent to 2,94,900 tonnes during the first half of March when compared to the same period last year. It was 35.6 per cent higher than in March 2021 but 8.2 per cent lower than in March 2020. Month-on-month sales were almost flat.
Sources said while domestic air travel is back to pre-Covid levels, international traffic is lagging because of continued restrictions in some countries.
India's recovery has continued to gain momentum in recent months but has been accompanied by elevated inflation. This slowed the momentum a bit. The country's oil demand had been rising steadily since the easing of COVID-19 restrictions.
Cooking gas LPG sales fell 9.7 per cent year-on-year to 1.18 million tonnes from March 1-15. LPG consumption was 7.1 per cent higher than in March 2021 and 3.6 per cent more than in March 2020.
Month-on-month, the demand dropped 15.10 when compared to 1.39 million tonnes of LPG consumption during February 1-15, the data showed.
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