What latest data on fuel sales indicates about demand in the economy

The government may be wanting people to shift to electric vehicles (EVs) but India’s fuel demand only seems to be surging, thanks to rising passenger vehicle sales as well as owing to an uptick in industrial demand. 

Consumption of fuel, a proxy for oil demand, was about 4% higher in December than the previous month, and rose 3.1% year-on-year to 19.60 million tonnes,  according to a Reuters report that cites government data released on Monday. 

How have sales of diesel and petrol risen in the recent past?

Sales of diesel, which account for about four-fifths of India's refined fuel demand, rose 6.5% in December from a year earlier to 7.78 million tonnes. Petrol sales rose 5.9% to 2.98 million tonnes, the data showed.

On a daily basis, petrol consumption rose marginally in December compared to the previous month.

What about fuel demand from other areas?

Cooking gas, or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), sales increased 3.9% in December to 2.58 million tonnes, while naphtha sales edged up 0.5% to 1.11 million tonnes.

Sales of bitumen, used for making roads, fell 15.1%, while fuel oil use jumped 9.3% last month.

How has India’s manufacturing industry been shaping up?

India's manufacturing industry ended 2022 on a solid footing as business conditions improved at the fastest rate in over two years while growth in new orders and output accelerated, Reuters said, citing a business survey. 

And what about passenger vehicle sales?

Passenger vehicle sales for December rose around 8.2% to 280,016 units and reached an all-time high of over 3.43 million units in 2022, the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) said.

The rise in PV sales was likely led by continued strong demand for utility vehicles (UV) that have grown more popular than entry-level compact cars.