Mumbai, Nov. 5 -- India's petrol and diesel consumption increased in October 2026, while liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) demand declined sharply amid supply disruptions linked to the crisis in West Asia, according to data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC), an arm of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
Petrol consumption rose 3.11 per cent year-on-year to 3.77 mn t in October. Diesel sales, the country's largest-selling petroleum product, increased 11.69 per cent to 8.51 mn t. In contrast, LPG consumption fell 12.11 per cent to 2.64 mn t during the month.
India relies heavily on imported LPG, including shipments transported through the Strait of Hormuz. Supply constraints associated with the West Asia crisis, which began in late February 2026, have affected availability and contributed to weaker LPG consumption in recent months.
The government has introduced measures to reduce dependence on imported LPG. These include incentives for city gas distribution (CGD) companies to expand domestic piped natural gas (PNG) connections and efforts to encourage LPG users to shift to PNG where infrastructure and supply are available. The measures have coincided with a decline in LPG consumption as tighter availability continues.
PPAC data showed that aviation turbine fuel (ATF) demand decreased 1.34 per cent year-on-year to 762,000 t in October. During the seven months from April to October 2026, petrol consumption rose 6.53 per cent to 26.47 mn t, while diesel demand increased 5.91 per cent to 56.44 mn t. ATF consumption for the period edged up 0.28 per cent to 5.20 mn t.
LPG consumption over the April-October period dropped 14.52 per cent to 16.31 mn t, compared with 19.09 mn t in the corresponding period a year earlier. The data indicates that the decline in LPG demand has been substantially sharper than the growth recorded in transport fuel consumption during the same period.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Construction World.