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In March, India's consumption of diesel and petrol slowed to single digits as untimely rains brought on by western disturbances disrupted harvesting and thereby created slowdown in the fuel sales growth.
Diesel sales, which are regarded as a gauge of economic activity, increased by slightly more than 2% in the month under review, compared to 13% annual growth in February and 18.5% in January, according to preliminary data.
During the month under review, the rate of growth in jet fuel consumption remained in the double digits at 25.7%, but it was significantly lower than the year-over-year growth of 40.9% in February and the increase of 18.5% in January.
LPG, which is mostly used as cooking gas in homes, saw a negative growth of 2.9 percent in March, compared to an annual growth of 2.4 percent in February and just 0.18 percent in January.
Nonetheless, with the exception of LPG, the sequential growth pattern was positive. Diesel utilisation was 4.5% more than February, while petroleum deals were 3.4% higher. Stream fuel deals also moved up a 4.5% month to month increment. However, LPG saw a decrease of 6.5 percent in March compared to February.
Reports are predicting that the growth will continue in its usual pattern after the rainfalls are becoming normal to the season.