India's energy demand grows at slower pace in September

India's fuel and electricity consumption grew at a slower pace in September compared with August, government data showed on Friday, despite a recovery in factory activity.

Sale of gasoil, which accounts for about two-fifths of India's refined fuel demand, by state retailers rose 0.79% in September, preliminary government data showed. Gasoil sales rose 16% in August compared with last year.

Electricity consumption rose 0.8% in September, compared with 17.1% growth in August, data from federal grid regulator POSOCO showed.

India's factory activity improved last month as a recovery in the economy from the pandemic-induced slump boosted demand and output, a private survey showed on Friday.

It was not immediately clear why there was a slump in the pace of energy demand growth.

Gasoline sales rose 6.57% in September, compared with a 13.6% rise in August.

State-run Indian Oil Corp, Hindustan Petroleum Corp and Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd own about 90% of the country's retail fuel outlets.

Below is a table of India' preliminary fuel sales data with volumes in thousand tonnes.

Refined Fuel Sep-21 %chg %chg %chg vs

mth/mth yr/yr Sep 2019

 

Gasoline 2347 3.6 6.6 8.8

Gasoil 4883 5.7 0.8 -6.5

Jet Fuel 373 9.6 24 -39.8

Liquefied Petroleum Gas 2363 5.9 3.7 9

 

(Editing by Kim Coghill)