Consumption of natural gas rose by 7 per cent in June as more Indians switched to green fuel. The consumption of natural gas in India went up in June to 5,594 million metric standard cubic metres (MMSCM) this year compared to the same month last year, as more households across the country are using the fuel for cooking. The demand is also rising in the urban transport segment, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.

 

While there was an increase of 2.9 percent in domestic gas production to 2,993 MMSCM during the month, which helped to meet the rising demand, imports went up by as much as 11.3 percent during the month. The gas companies have been expanding their network to meet the rising demand for green fuel.

 

Consumption of petroleum products such as petrol, diesel, and jet fuel went up by 2.6 percent in June to 20 million metric tonnes (MMT). Crude oil imports fell 5.6 percent year-on-year to 18.5 million metric tons in June, but the import bill rose by 11 percent to $11.1 billion during the month due to higher prices in the international market that surged past the $82 per barrel mark during the month. This had also prompted the government to raise the windfall tax on crude oil levied on domestic companies, ONGC and Oil India Ltd.