India's consumption of petroleum products such as diesel, petrol, LPG and bitumen went up by 5 per cent to touch a record level of 233.276 million tons during the financial year that ended on March 31, 2024, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.

The consumption of petroleum goods in 2022-2023 stood at 223.021 million tons.

Sales of diesel, mainly used by trucks, buses and the agriculture sector increased by 4.4 per cent in 2023-24 compared to the previous financial year, reflecting the higher level of economic activity in the country.

The demand for petrol rose by 6.4 per cent during the year with the sales of cars and two-wheelers going up during the year.

Sales of bitumen, used for making roads, were up 9.9 per cent for the fiscal year as the government undertook big infrastructure projects to spur growth in the economy. Naphtha which is used for making fertilisers also registered a higher growth in sales during the year.

However, for the month of March, the total consumption of petroleum products totalled 21.09 million metric tons which was lower than the 21.22 million tons consumed in the previous year.