India's annual petrol consumption doubles in a decade, posts 117% growth

India's petrol consumption has increased more than double over the past decade, revealed data published by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. The data has stated that between 2013-14 and 2023-24, annual petrol consumption of the country skyrocketed by 117 per cent, which comes at a time when the concerns around environmental pollution and vehicular emissions' impact on that is growing fast.

This massive growth in petrol consumption in the last one decade comes as a sort of anti-climax considering the efforts of environmental conservation and carbon emission reduction in various sectors, including transport. Petrol is widely used in the Indian transport sector, especially by passenger vehicles. Over the last one decade, sales of vehicles have shot up drastically, especially since the Covid-19 pandemic, which propelled consumers' preference for personal mobility has grown significantly. This resulted in increasing demand for passenger vehicles, eventually leading to higher demand for petrol as well.

Data revealed by the ministry has also stated that diesel consumption in India has increased by 31 per cent between 2013-4 and 2023-24. This means that while the annual petrol consumption in the past decade has increased by a whopping 117 per cent, diesel sales have risen by approximately one-third.

Indian passenger vehicle market once used to be dominated by diesel vehicles. However, petrol has surpassed the dominance of diesel over the past decade. The preference for petrol-propelled vehicles has grown significantly due to multiple factors such as deregulation, the rise of disposable income, the emergence of aspirational middle-class consumers, the narrowing gap between petrol and diesel prices across the country etc.

Second-highest petrol & diesel consumption in March 2024

In March 2024, India witnessed its second-highest levels of petrol and diesel consumption reflecting the burgeoning demand for both personal and commercial mobility. Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas have stated that the total fuel demand stood at 4.99 million barrels per day (mbpd) in March this year, slightly lower than the 5.02 mbpd registered in the same period last year. Petrol sales in March 2024 grew by 6.9 pe per cent on a year-on-year (YoY) basis to 3.32 million tonnes, while diesel sales increased by 3.1 per cent to 8.04 million tonnes.

In FY24, India's fuel demand reached a record high of 4.67 mbpd, up from 4.48 mbpd registered in the previous year. Petrol sales shot up by 6.4 per cent in the last fiscal compared to FY23, while diesel sales registered a 4.4 per cent YoY growth.