According to the data, there was a steady decline in the country’s fuel consumption in February. Demand has come down for the second consecutive month amid rising fuel prices.
Only the general public is not bothered by the rising prices of petrol and diesel. Rather, its effect is also being seen on the speed of the economy. Due to skyrocketing oil prices, fuel consumption has decreased for the second consecutive month in the month of February. This directly means that if there is a decrease in demand, then it will also have an impact on the oil companies and the public exchequer, due to which the wheels of the economy will also slow down.
Actually rising fuel prices are affecting the demand situation in India. Efforts to bring the economy back on track have also accelerated in the post-lockdown situation due to COVID. According to official figures, there was a steady decline in the country’s fuel consumption in February. Demand has come down for the second consecutive month amid rising fuel prices.
What do government statistics say?
The consumption decrease in February is the lowest since September. From that time it was becoming clear that the worst is the case and demand is increasing. According to the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) of the Oil Ministry, fuel consumption (largely petrol and diesel) fell 4.9 percent to 17.2 million tonnes in February. On a monthly basis too, there has been a decline of 4.6 percent in demand. This shows that there are still many hurdles in the way of getting the Indian economy fully back on track.
Recovery in economy is far away
However, there is a clear indication that the complete recovery is still far away and can be gauged by looking at diesel consumption figures as fuel is the major source of transportation of all types of goods in the country and accounts for about 40 percent of total fuel sales in India is. Diesel consumption declined by 3.8 percent to 6.55 million tonnes in February, depending on the month. Its decline was 8.5 percent on an annual basis.
Petrol sales down 6.5 percent
On the other hand, petrol sales fell by 6.5 percent to 2.44 million tonnes in February, compared to a decline of about 3 percent in its sales a year earlier. This year, the prices of petrol and diesel are continuously increasing in the country. Petrol prices reached Rs 100 per liter in many cities.