Application for shortage of diesel in hilly areas?
Answers
Answer:
Diesel and Petrol are strategic commodities; they play a vital role in the socioeconomic development of a country. Any uncertainty about their supply can
impact the functioning of the economy. In order to reduce this uncertainty it is
important to plan and use the resources judiciously. But, before planning, it is
essential to understand the consumption pattern of these products. Tentative
information pertaining to category-wise overall consumption is available with
different sources but there is no correct picture available on category-wise
retail sales of Diesel / Petrol, as it is not maintained by dealers operating the
retail outlets. It is important to note that during last one decade, retail share in
total diesel sale has gone up from 78.5 to 82.1 per cent in 2011-12.
Keeping in mind with the above scenario, Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell
(PPAC), an attached office of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas,
engaged Nielsen India to conduct an in-depth research covering over 2000
retail outlets (RO) spread across 150 districts in 16 states in India. The study
was focused to estimate the share of different consuming segments within the
transport and non-transport sector for diesel and petrol sold through retail
outlets of Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) on
a state-wise, zone-wise and All India basis. To give a more realistic picture, an
attempt was also made to put together the direct sales figures (diesel sold
directly by the Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) to bulk consumers like
industry, railways, defense, etc.) and retail sales figures to arrive an all India
estimate share of different consuming segments within the transport and nontransport sector.
To meet the study objectives, at each RO, retail data was collected through
primary survey technique collecting data from the dispensers against the
vehicle category /model for vehicle entering for fuelling up for 12 hours (24
hours in case of a RO situated on a highway) for 7 days in a staggered manner.
Besides this, direct sales data of diesel provided by PPAC has helped to draw a
complete picture of the consumption pattern of diesel at the national level. This
exercise was done over four different time periods – January to March 2012,
July to September of 2012, October to December of 2012 and April to June of
2013 and the aggregate level data has been arrived both at national and zone
Report – All India Study on Sectoral Demand of Diesel & Petrol 10
level. PPAC had commissioned Nielsen India to conduct the whole field survey
and to submit a comprehensive report keeping in mind the basic objective of
the study.
It appears that that transport sector accounts for 70% (both direct and retail
sales) consumption of diesel at all India level; LCVs, HCVs and Buses together
account for about 38%. This is due to, the large distances that are travelled by
commercial vehicles vis-à-vis passenger vehicles. Cars and UVs category
contribute nearly 22% of the diesel sales, in which private vehicle consumes
little less than 60% of total in this category. This huge private consumption of
diesel is due to growing population of UVs and cars, especially amongst private
car owners. This segment is expected to grow very fast due to introduction of
new generation fuel efficient vehicles by different vehicle manufacturers. Also
change in consumer attitude of a particular segment to opt for UVs rather than
conventional cars. However, it is interesting to note that there is significant
diesel consumption in commercial car and UV segment. Agriculture sector
accounts for around 13%. Agri-implements largely stand for Tractor based agriequipment such as Harvesters, Threshers, etc