In the month of May, India consumed a record petrol and diesel this year. This is due to rise in sales of commercial vehicle and two wheelers.
The Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell(PPAC) is a wing of the Petroleum Ministry. The data of Petroleum Ministry shows 2.08 million tonne of petrol was consumed in domestic market during May which is the highest for any single month in this year till now. The earlier record offtake also happened in March this year when 2.04 million tonne petrol was consumed.
9.77 million tonne petrol has been consumed in the first five months of 2016. This is about 14% more than 8.56 million tonne consumed in the same period of 2015.
There are two factors in which increase in the petrol offtake this year. First, car buyers give preference to petrol cars due to the uncertainty of diesel cars. Second, the gap is decreased between the price of petrol and diesel from Rs. 18 to Rs. 10 in the previous four years.
The shares of diesel cars fell to 26% against 52% in last four years. Sales of passengers vehicle and two wheelers have been increasing and demand for additional fuel. 2.78 million units of passenger vehicle sales in FY16. The sales of vehicle during April-June quarter have grown by 6.7% to 697,154 vehicles. New launches have been driving sales.
Two-wheeler sales grew by just 3% in FY16 and have grown over 14% in the April-June quarter to 4.54 million units.
Diesel is not much behind in terms of growth. According the data of PPAC shows that diesel consumption made a record 6.95 million tonne in May, breaking the earlier monthly record of 6.78 million tonne for March this year. Diesel consumption grew at about 9% to 33.2 million tonnes in the five-month period.
PPAC said that the rise in diesel consumption, infrastructure project initiated by the government and economically viability of public transport and due to cheaper fuel.
According to Nelson study, 38% of diesel is consumed by the commercial vehicle like buses and trucks. A study shows that 29% of diesel is consumed by the utility vehicle, cars and three wheelers across the country.
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