The latest report of the petroleum planning and analysis cell (PPAC) associated with the Ministry of Oil says a lot about the slight increase in the demand for diesel in the country. According to this report, in the financial year 2024-25, the demand for diesel in the country was the lowest since Korona epidemic. During this time, its demand increased only two percent. There are reasons such as decrease in economic development activities and increasing trend of electrical vehicles behind this deficiency in the demand for diesel. Although diesel has been dominating the transport sector from the beginning, but at present, due to the adoption of electric vehicle by public transport and logistics, the demand for diesel is decreasing comparatively. According to PPAC data, diesel consumption in FY 2024-25 increased to 9.14 million tonnes only two percent. This growth rate is less than half of the growth rate of 4.3 percent of the earlier financial year and a small increase of 12.1 percent of the financial year 2022-23. However, it should not be assumed that the use of diesel has reduced completely. Diesel’s share in the total consumption of crude oil in the country is still about 40 percent. This consumption is mainly in trucks and vehicles connected to farming. But the growing popularity of Ivi is affecting the demand for diesel to a great extent.
For example, electric buses have started running on the streets in metros like Delhi and Mumbai. E-auto rickshaws have already occupied many Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. Large companies like Amazon, Flipkart and Bigbasket are also converting their delivery vehicles to EV. This is also affecting the demand for diesel. The demand for diesel has been reduced in the means of public transport, but the use of diesel by the railways has also reduced much less than before. Automobile companies are now paying less attention to diesel cars. To promote clean fuel, the government itself is adopting a policy of discouraging the use of diesel. Although in view of India’s vast agricultural sector, there is a huge decrease in the use of diesel at the moment, but the low use of diesel in the means of transport also tells about our commitment to emphasize clean fuel to save the environment.
