India's fuel demand falls sharply in April amid lockdown to curb spread of coronavirus
Story highlights
Consumption of fuel totalled 9.93 million tonnes - its lowest since 2007, government data showed on Saturday.
India's fuel demand dipped 45.8% in April from a year earlier, as economic activity came to a halt due to nationwide lockdown and travel curbs to combat the spread of novel coronavirus.
Consumption of fuel totalled 9.93 million tonnes - its lowest since 2007, government data showed on Saturday.
State fuel retailers in India sold 50% less refined fuel in the first two weeks of April than the same time a year earlier as the country came to a standstill due to the lockdown that was put in place on March 24.
The government last week extended the lockdown until May 17, with some relaxations in lower-risk areas, although travel by air, rail and metro and inter-state movement of people by road was still banned.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) in its latest report said India's annual fuel consumption will decline by 5.6% in 2020 compared with growth of 2.4% forecast in its March report.
Consumption of diesel, which is widely used for transportation as well as for irrigation needs in India, was down about 55.6% year-over-year at 3.25 million tonnes.
(With inputs from Reuters)