Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi

New Delhi, Jul 8: India’s petroleum product consumption rose by 1.9% in June, reaching 20.31 million metric tonnes, up from 19.94 million tonnes in the same month last year, according to data released by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.

Petrol consumption recorded a 6.7% increase, driven by higher sales of cars and two-wheelers. A recovery in rural demand and improved agricultural performance contributed to this rise.

Diesel consumption, accounting for nearly 40% of India’s fuel sales, grew by 1.6% to 8.11 million metric tonnes. The uptick reflects increased economic activity in transport and agriculture.

LPG usage jumped by a robust 9.1%, touching 2.53 million metric tonnes, as more households adopted cooking gas. Rising incomes, wider reach of the Ujjwala scheme, and greater commercial use in hotels and restaurants contributed to the surge.

Naphtha sales, used in fertiliser production, rose 2% to 1.03 million metric tonnes.

However, on a month-on-month basis, total petroleum product sales fell by 4.7%, largely due to the early arrival of the monsoon, which typically slows fuel consumption.

As the world’s third-largest oil consumer, India's fuel consumption trends are seen as a proxy for its economic momentum.

Meanwhile, Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri assured that India’s oil supplies remain secure despite tensions in the Middle East following the Israel-Iran conflict and US bombings of Iranian nuclear sites. He highlighted that India has significantly diversified its oil sources, reducing dependence on supplies via the Strait of Hormuz.

“Our oil marketing companies have several weeks of supply ready. We now import a large volume of crude from Russia, the US, and other alternative routes,” Puri said, also citing the country’s strategic petroleum reserves as a buffer against supply shocks.