India’s oil demand will outpace China in 2019- Pradhan

New Delhi: In the times of curtailment in consumption from almost all quarters in India, there is a piece of news about rise in consumption, exactly from where it should rather be stable or negative. India's oil demand, as per a report of OPEC will rise by 3.21 in 2019. That is, the oil demand will grow to 4.88 million barrels per day (mb/d) in 2019 from 4.73 mb/d during the previous year. Now if we talk about the year 2020, the OPEC report says, that India's oil demand will outpace China's growth of oil demand. India's oil demand will further rise to 5.05 mb/d by 2020 (3.36% year on year), outpacing China's oil demand growth (2.37%).

As the demand will rise, so will India's oil import bill.

Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan has informed the house that oil conservation measures to be taken at the end-user level. Oil conservation measures include:

• Reducing energy consumption through introduction of standard and labelling program for equipment using petro-based fuels such as Domestic LPG Stoves, Diesel Irrigation Pump Sets & Diesel Generator Sets.
• Training of drivers and organization of transport workshops.
• Sensitizing farmers on petroleum conservation through KisanMelas, agriculture workshops etc.
• Carrying out energy audits.
• Educating housewives on efficient use of domestic LPG.
• Mass awareness activities through Saksham Campaigns, Social Media campaigns, campaigns on TV, Radio & Newspapers, literature, Exhibitions etc.