 "A vehicle waits to be filled up with diesel at a petrol station in New Delhi. Photo: Reuters")
India is slowly becoming a big importer of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG or cooking gas) and diesel.
In 2016-17, the import of LPG increased by 23.5 per cent, while that of diesel zoomed 463 per cent compared to the previous year, raising eyebrows among industry experts.
In the current financial year (from April 1), the country imported 915,000 tonnes of diesel in the first quarter itself, as against 997,000 tonnes in all of 2016-17 and 177,000 tonnes in 2015-16.
While the rise in LPG import is mainly because of an increase in consumption through pro-poor schemes like the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY),
