India's fuel demand rises by 5% Y-O-Y; Touches record-high in March

Data from Oil ministry's Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell has showed that India's fuel consumption has risen 5% year on year in March. This indicates the rise in demand for oil by India, which happens to be the world's third biggest oil consumer.

As per the data, consumption rose to 4.83 million barrels per day. This is the highest recorded in data going back to 1998. The sales of gasoline, or petrol, rose 6.8% to 3.1 million tonnes while cooking gas, or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), sales fell 2.7% year-on-year to 2.41 million tonnes. The report also mentioned that the sales of bitumen, used for making roads, jumped 16.5% month-on-month, and fuel oil use increased more than 2% in March, compared with February. Jet fuel sales rose more than 10.4% to 0.69 million tonnes and diesel sales were up 11.4% to 7.80 million tonnes.

As per Business Standard, the rise in consumption is driven by robust economic activities. India outlined plans in March to invest billions of dollars in airports, aircraft and recruitment as the world's fastest-growing economy seeks to meet booming air travel demand.