BENGALURU: India’s fuel consumption rose 8.2% year-on-year in January, government data showed on Thursday, helped by strong industrial activity in the world’s third top oil consumer.

Total consumption, a proxy for oil demand, totalled 20.04 million tonnes in January, up from 18.51 million tonnes last year, data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) of the oil ministry showed.

However, consumption edged down about 0.1% on a month-on-month basis after hitting a seven-month high in December at 20.05 million tonnes.

Sales of diesel, mainly used by trucks and commercially-run passenger vehicles, rose by 3.5% year-on-year to 7.43 million tons in January.

India’s manufacturing industry improved substantially at the start of 2024 with factory activity expanding at its fastest pace in four months in January on robust demand and an upbeat year-ahead outlook, a private survey showed on Thursday.

Sales of gasoline in January rose 9.6% from the previous year to 3.10 million tons. Indian carmakers reported record sales in January as they looked to build up inventory of new and refreshed models this calendar year, wholesale data from the companies showed on Thursday.

Sales of bitumen, used for making roads, rose by 11.6% from last January, while fuel oil use decreased by 4.7% year-on-year.

Cooking gas, or liquefied petroleum gas sales rose by 7.6% to 2.70 million tons, while naphtha sales jumped by 15.2% to about 1.30 million tons, compared with last January, the data showed.