The increasing need for these fuels in a developing economy is shown in India’s October consumption of petrol, aviation turbine fuel and LPG, which skyrocketed in comparison to the same month previous year. According to figures issued by the public sector oil companies on Friday, during the festive season, the demand for jet fuel grew 2.5% year-over-year, while LPG usage increased 7.5% and petrol sales increased 7.3%. However, the prolonged monsoon, which caused the planting season to be delayed, affected the demand for diesel in the agricultural sector, resulting in a 3.3% drop in sales.
Over 90% of the market is made up by Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum, and Hindustan Petroleum, whose sales of petrol rose from 2.87 million tonnes in October of previous year to 3.1 million tonnes in October. This occurs as the nation’s urban and rural areas see an increase in the sales of automobiles, SUVs, and two-wheelers.
Jet fuel usage increased to 6,47,700 tonnes in October 2024 due to the rise in air travel, which is fuelled by a growing middle class that is enjoying more economic prosperity. According to the most recent figures, domestic airlines carried 1.30 crore passengers in September, a 6.38 percent increase over the same period last year.
In October 2024, sales of LPG for cooking gas increased 7.5% year over year to 2.82 million tonnes. The amount of LPG consumed has increased by 13.1% since October 2022.
According to a recent report by Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Suresh Gopi, the number of deposit-free LPG connections granted to women from low-income households nationwide under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) has increased to 10.33 crore as of August 1, 2024.
In September 2019, the goal of releasing 8 crore connections was accomplished. The second phase of the Ujjwala 2.0 initiative was introduced in August 2021 to reach the remaining impoverished homes, and by January 2023, 1.60 crore connections had been made available. Furthermore, the government authorised the release of an additional 75 lakh PMUY connections in September 2023 in response to new requests. According to the minister, as of July 8, 2024, the public sector oil marketing corporations had finished releasing these 75 lakh PMUY connections.
Additionally, LPG Panchayats and awareness campaigns have been used to raise knowledge of the benefits of utilising LPG over other conventional fuels as well as the safe use of cooking gas. The minister noted that as a result of these measures, PMUY beneficiaries’ per capita consumption increased to 3.95 refills in FY 2023–2024.
