Election Oil

However, industry officials attribute only one-third of the diesel jump to the poll demand. ‘‘The spurt is partly due to the ban on kerosene imports by private firms,’’ said an official of Indian Oil Corp.

The government in November banned import of kerosene by private firms as it found that a large volume of it was being diverted to retail pumps for adulteration in diesel.

The spurt in demand growth was also witnessed in petrol. Last month, the automotive fuel chalked up 14.6 per cent growth, almost double that of 7.4 per cent in February.

The two auto fuels and the sizeable jump in March sales of aviation fuel, industrial fuel oil and bitumen took the annual consumption in 2003-04 (April-March) to 107.7 million tonnes, a year-on-year growth of 3.4 per cent.

March’s contribution is best reflected when compared with the cumulative sales of 97.62 million tonnes during April-February. The rise in demand was of 2.3 per cent.

The IOC official, however, moderated the monthly jump by attributing part of the gains to the low consumption in March 2003 when product sales by his company was disrupted due to a week-long strike by IOC workmen.

The strike was unsuccessful in eastern India and had little success in southern and western regions. The northern region was the most affected by the stir, he said.