India's consumption of petrol, aviation turbine fuel, and LPG rose in October this year compared to the same month last year, reflecting an increasing thirst for these fuels in the economy.
Petrol sales rose 7.3 percent, LPG consumption surged 7.5 percent, and jet fuel demand rose 2.5 percent during the festive season compared with the year-ago period, according to data released by the public sector oil companies on Friday.
However, diesel sales declined by 3.3 percent as the extended monsoon, which led to the delay in the sowing season, impacted demand for the fuel in the farm sector.
The combined petrol sales of Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum, and Hindustan Petroleum increased 3.1 million tonnes in October over the same period last year when it had sold 2.87 million tonnes. This rise is set against the increasing sales of cars, SUVs, and two-wheelers in the country's urban and rural areas.
The consumption of jet fuel surged to 6,47,700 tonnes during October 2024 as air travel witnessed an increase riding on the crest of a surging middle class benefiting from higher economic growth.
Domestic airlines flew 1.30 crore passengers in September, up 6.38 per cent compared with the year-ago period, as per the latest data.
Cooking gas LPG sales were up by 7.5% in annual terms to 2.82 million tonnes in October 2024. LPG consumption now stands 13.1% above the same period in October 2022. LPG consumption is on an upward trajectory and as many as 10.33 crore deposit-free LPG connections have so far been issued to women from poor families across the country under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, Suresh Gopi, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas recently informed the Lok Sabha.
The target to issue 8 crore connections was met in September 2019. To release the balance poor household connections, the government brought in the second wave of the scheme Ujjwala 2.0 in August 2021 and, by January 2023, had released 1.60 crore connections. Furthermore, keeping in view new applications, in September 2023, the government cleared the release of additional 75 lakh PMUY connections.
Till date, the public sector oil marketing companies have released these 75 lakh PMUY connections as of July 8, 2024, the minister said.
Other steps taken to popularize LPG include creating awareness about the advantages of using LPG over other conventional fuels and the safe usage of cooking gas through LPG Panchayats and awareness camps.
With such efforts, the per capita consumption for PMUY beneficiaries has risen to 3.95 refills in FY 2023-24, the minister said.
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