India's consumption of petroleum products increased by 10% in FY23

According to Rameswar Teli, Minister of State for Petroleum & Natural Gas, the nation's consumption of petroleum products during FY2022-23 increased by 10% compared to the prior fiscal year, reaching a volume of nearly 223 million tonne. According to Teli's written response to the Rajya Sabha, the surge was driven by a 13% jump in petrol consumption and a 12% increase in diesel use. The overall stronger demand for transportation, energy, and fuel was fuelled by robust economic growth, increased industrialisation, urbanisation, and infrastructure development, as well as rising vehicle sales, which in turn raised the consumption of petroleum products. The central government decreased central excise duty by Rs 13 per litre on petrol and Rs 16 per litre on diesel in November 2021 and May 2022, respectively, to encourage consumption and assist the economy. Retail fuel costs decreased as a result of this reduction because it was entirely passed down to consumers. Following suit, the VAT rates on fuel and diesel were lowered in many states and UTs. The government has adopted a five-pronged strategy to lessen the nation's reliance on imported crude oil. These include boosting domestic oil and gas production, encouraging energy efficiency and conservation measures, emphasising demand substitution, promoting biofuels and other alternative fuels/renewables, and implementing refinery process improvements. Also read:  LiuGong introduces 936F excavator for heavy-duty diggingSany unveils intelligent new energy dump trucks