Mumbai: India's total fuel consumption fell 6.3% in August from the previous month to 18.61 million metric tons, its lowest level since September 2024, according to data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
Fuel consumption was also 2.8% lower than in August last year. The latest figures show a mixed picture of India's energy demand, with petrol and diesel use remaining higher than a year earlier while LPG and naphtha consumption recorded significant declines.
Petrol consumption rose 8.2% from a year earlier to 3.84 million metric tons in August. Diesel consumption increased 6.8% to 7.02 million metric tons.
The figures show that the fall in overall fuel consumption was not accompanied by a year on year decline in petrol and diesel demand.
Diesel consumption, however, fell 15% from July. Petrol consumption increased 0.5% from the previous month.
The sharp monthly fall in diesel use, together with weaker consumption of several other petroleum products, contributed to the lower overall figure.
LPG consumption fell 17.2% from a year earlier to 2.35 million metric tons. LPG is widely used by Indian households for cooking and remains an important part of the country's domestic energy market.
The decline in LPG consumption comes as India has been managing supply pressures linked to disruptions in global energy flows.
The government has now eased one of the measures introduced during the period of supply pressure. On September 7, the government directed oil marketing companies to allow domestic LPG consumers in both urban and rural areas to book refills every 25 days. Rural consumers had previously faced a 45 day interval, while the interval for urban consumers was 25 days.
The government said the change followed an improvement in the LPG supply situation and a significant reduction in refill backlogs.
However, the latest LPG booking decision should not be treated as the direct explanation for the fall in August consumption. The available data do not establish one specific reason for the decline.
Naphtha consumption also fell sharply, declining 22.3% from a year earlier to 0.83 million metric tons. Naphtha is widely used as a feedstock in the petrochemical industry, although the latest figures do not establish the reason for the decline.
Other petroleum products showed different trends.
Bitumen consumption, which is widely used in road construction, fell 4.4% from July but remained 19.8% higher than a year earlier.
Fuel oil consumption also rose 4.8% in August from a year earlier, according to the latest data.
The latest national figures follow provisional sales data from India's three major state owned fuel retailers, Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation. Those companies had earlier reported strong year on year growth in petrol and diesel sales during August.
The two sets of figures measure different parts of the market. The earlier data covered sales by the three companies, while the latest PPAC figures cover India's wider domestic consumption of petroleum products.
Earlier reports also indicated that agricultural activity and travel supported petrol and diesel demand during August. However, these factors should not be treated as the sole explanation for the latest national figures.
The latest fuel data come as international oil markets face renewed uncertainty. Crude prices have risen sharply in September amid concerns about possible disruptions to oil supplies linked to rising tensions in West Asia.
The development is important for India because the country depends heavily on imported crude oil. Higher international oil prices can increase the cost of imports and put pressure on the country's energy market.
However, the latest rise in oil prices occurred in September and should not be presented as the cause of the August decline in fuel consumption.
India's August fuel data therefore show a mixed picture rather than a broad fall in transport fuel demand. Petrol and diesel consumption remained above year earlier levels, while weaker LPG and naphtha consumption and the monthly decline in diesel contributed to the lower overall total.
Further monthly data will show whether the August decline was temporary or whether it develops into a more sustained change in India's fuel consumption pattern.