Dec 9 (Reuters) – India’s gas demand climbed to an eight-month excessive in November, authorities knowledge launched on Friday confirmed, as festivals and a pick-up in industrial exercise boosted gross sales on the earth’s No. 3 oil shopper.

Consumption of gas, a proxy for oil demand, was 2.4% larger than the earlier month, and rose 10.2% year-on-year to 18.84 million tonnes in November, in accordance with the information from Indian oil ministry’s Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC).

“The festive season has been supporting oil demand growth,” stated Refinitiv analyst Ehsan Ul Haq.

“Demand growth might slow slightly in the next few months as present expansion has been from a low base, but since the Indian economy is robust, we’ll continue to see high consumption numbers,” Ul Haq added.

Retail sales at all times peak throughout October-November, when the nation of 1.4 billion celebrates main festivals of Dussehra and Diwali.

India’s manufacturing facility exercise in November expanded at its quickest tempo in three months to 55.7, in contrast with 55.3 in October, confirmed the Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (INPMI=ECI), compiled by S&P Global.

Sales of diesel, which account for about four-fifth of India’s refined gas demand, have been up 19.1% from 2021 at 7.76 million tonnes, whereas gross sales of gasoline, or petrol, rose 8.1% at 2.86 million tonnes, the PPAC knowledge confirmed.

The rise in diesel demand “points to a strong economy,” stated Ul Haq, noting a pick-up in non-public in addition to public transport demand together with a restoration in demand from the agricultural sector after the monsoon season.

Cooking gasoline or liquefied petroleum gasoline (LPG) gross sales elevated 5.2% to 2.47 million tonnes, whereas naphtha gross sales fell 18.2% to 1.01 million tonnes.

Sales of bitumen, used for making roads, rose 30.3% whereas gas oil use edged up 8.4% in November.

DOMESTIC SALES (in million tonnes):

NOTE: Total figures could not tally as a result of not all objects are included within the desk, and numbers are rounded. The numbers for earlier months could have been revised.

Reporting by Kavya Guduru, Arpan Varghese and Brijesh Patel in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips

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