NEW DELHI: India’s oil demand rose 1.8% in the first nine months of the current fiscal, slower than 2.7% in the year-ago period. Dependence on oilNSE 3.54 % imports also rose as domestic production fell 5.8% in the same period.
Diesel sales, which makes up 40% of all oil demand in the country, rose barely 0.8% in the nine months to December. Diesel sales dropped 0.7% in December from a year ago.
“Severe winters in northern India and agitations in some states have disrupted normal economic activities,” the oil ministry’s monthly consumption review report said on December consumption. Sharp drop in the sale of diesel-fuelled vehicles, extended rain and preference for petrol vehicles weighed on diesel demand during the financial year, according to the report.
