Weak diesel demand signals a slow rebound for industrial India

It’s set to be a slow crawl back to pre-virus levels for Indian energy demand with diesel, the most-used fuel, holding back the recovery.

While demand for diesel, which accounts for around 40% of Indian fuel use in a normal year, rebounded quickly after the world’s biggest lockdown was imposed in March, the recovery has since slowed. The annual growth rate for diesel consumption won’t get back to pre-virus levels until the year ended March 2022, said Mukesh Kumar Surana, chairman of Hindustan Petroleum Corp.