LPG consumption declined 12.8% year-on-year to 2.38 million tonne (MT) in March 2026 — the lowest since June 2024 — as compared to 2.73 MT in March 2025, reversing a 4.5% growth seen a year ago with consumption of 2.61 MT in March 2024, and fell sharply 15.7% month-on-month from 2.82 MT in February and 20.93% in January from 3.01 MT, reflecting demand disruption amid supply constraints and shifting consumption patterns.
Petrol and diesel, in contrast, saw strong growth both annually and sequentially, driven by panic buying amid fears of supply disruptions linked to the West Asia conflict. Petrol consumption rose 7.6% year-on-year to 3.78 MT in March 2026 from 3.51 MT in March 2025, while diesel increased 8.1% to 8.73 MT from 8.08 MT.
On a month-on-month basis, petrol jumped 12.2% from 3.37 MT in February, and diesel surged 13.9% from 7.66 MT, indicating precautionary stocking and heightened demand, the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) showed.
What else did the trend reflect?
The trend also reflects a steady rise over the past two years, but the sharp spike in March 2026 stands out. Petrol consumption increased from 3.32 MT in March 2024 to 3.51 MT in March 2025 and 3.78 MT in March 2026, while diesel rose from 8.01 MT to 8.08 MT and further to 8.73 MT, highlighting sustained growth in transport fuel demand.
However, month-on-month trends show a clear deviation. In 2026, petrol jumped 12.2% from 3.37 MT in February to 3.78 MT in March, while diesel surged 13.9% from 7.66 MT to 8.73 MT, indicating panic buying amid supply disruption fears.
In contrast, in 2025, petrol rose a moderate 5.3% from 3.33 MT in February to 3.51 MT in March, while diesel remained largely flat at around 8.08 MT, showing no abnormal spike. Similarly, in 2024, petrol increased 4.7% from 3.17 MT to 3.32 MT, while diesel saw a marginal rise of ~1.2% from 7.91 MT to 8.01 MT, reflecting normal seasonal demand.
The sharp double-digit jump in March 2026, compared with single-digit or flat trends in previous years, underscores that the surge was driven by panic buying linked to the West Asia crisis, rather than underlying demand alone.
On an annual basis, petrol consumption rose to 42.59 MT in FY26 from 40.01 MT in FY25 and 37.22 MT in FY24, while diesel increased to 94.70 MT from 91.41 MT and 89.63 MT, respectively.
Strong underlying demand over the longer term
For LPG, despite the March decline, full-year consumption rose 6% to 33.21 MT in FY26 from 31.33 MT in FY25, and higher than 29.66 MT in FY24, indicating strong underlying demand over the longer term.
India’s total petroleum product consumption increased to 243.19 MT in FY26, up 1.7% year-on-year from 239.22 MT in FY25, and higher than 234.26 MT in FY24, reflecting a two-year growth of around 3.8% and steady expansion in energy demand.
Aviation turbine fuel (ATF) consumption rose 5.6% month-on-month to 0.81 MT in March from 0.76 MT in February, while remaining broadly stable year-on-year compared with 0.80 MT in March 2025 and up from 0.76 MT in March 2024.
On an annual basis, ATF consumption increased to 9.16 MT in FY26 from 8.99 MT in FY25 and 8.25 MT in FY24, reflecting recovery in aviation demand.
Among other products, naphtha consumption declined 6.8% month-on-month to 0.94 MT in March from 1.01 MT in February, and remained lower compared with 1.03 MT in March 2025 and 1.14 MT in March 2024, reflecting softer petrochemical demand.
Petroleum coke consumption remained stable at 1.73 MT in March, while bitumen consumption increased to 1.02 MT from 0.92 MT in February, indicating stronger infrastructure activity. Fuel oil (FO & LSHS) rose to 0.65 MT from 0.53 MT, and lubricants and greases increased to 0.48 MT from 0.41 MT.
The country’s LPG imports plunged over 45% month-on-month to around 1.12 million tonne (MT) in March from nearly 2.04 MT in February, Kpler data showed.
The drop came as the escalating West Asia conflict choked supply routes through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical artery that carries nearly 90% of India’s LPG imports.
The sharp contraction is seen as a direct fallout of the geopolitical crisis, which has effectively disrupted shipping lanes, stranded vessels and triggered what officials describe as one of the worst gas supply shocks in recent years.
From over 2.04 MT in February — when panic buying and precautionary stocking drove volumes to one of the highest levels — imports collapsed to around 1.12 MT in March.