India’s Yearly Oil Consumption Drops for the First Time in 21 Years

by Jatin Chhibber | 05/02/2021
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Due to the pandemic last year, the annual petroleum consumption of India falls for the first time in the last two decade.

India was one of the world’s biggest consumers of petroleum, but due to the pandemic, last year the oil demand dropped. The demand for all the petroleum products like diesel, gasoline and jet-fuel got decreased by 10.8 per cent. According to a report published by the oil ministry’s Petroleum, Planning and Analysis cell that in 1999, the consumption was also low at a five-year low of 193.4 million tons. After the nationwide lockdown, which was implemented in March last year, the demand for petrol in India got collapsed by 70 per cent. And this drop has resulted in a cutback in crude processing and operations at petrochemical plants. The strict restriction severely damaged the Indian economy, which is set for its biggest contraction in the gross domestic product.

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 Nevertheless, the Indian government also relaxed many rules to pull India’s economy out of danger. But, now the demand has started rising up again as the restrictions have been relaxed gradually. Last month, the gasoline consumption rose to 9.3 per cent year-on-year, the highest since May 2019. Furthermore, people have increased the use of personal vehicles. The Indian government is also promoting electric vehicles in the country to make the country pollution-free. Many carmakers have started offering EVs, while many other automakers are still working on it. Some new entrants like Tesla are also entering India in the coming months.

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The Road Transport and Highway Minister of India, Nitin Gadkari confirmed that Tesla will enter India by this year. The first-ever car to be launched by the carmaker in India will be the Tesla Model 3, which is expected to hit the Indian shores by the first half of this year. The bookings of the car will commence this month. Initially, Tesla has plans to retail its vehicle via the CBU route. Local manufacturing could start after looking at the overall customer response towards the brand. Tesla Model 3 will be offered with single and dual-motor options. The entry-level Standard Range and Range Plus trims will offer a total range of 423km. 

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