India imported 9.1 per cent more crude in 2007/08 than the year earlier as refining capacities expanded and local demand clocked the highest growth in eight years, government data showed.

Asia’s No 3 oil consumer shipped in 2.44 million barrels per day (bpd) crude in the year ended March that saw Essar Oil’s Vadinar plant running at full steam of 210,000 bpd and Indian Oil Corp’s Panipat unit running at 240,000 bpd.
In March crude oil imports grew 1.7 per cent to 2.47 million bpd.
Oil product sales, a proxy for demand, rose 7 per cent in 2007/08 to 129.24 million tonnes with consumption of diesel and petrol robust.
A booming economy and prices kept artificially low helped diesel sales rise 11.1 per cent, the highest in 12 years, while a surge of 11.2 per cent in petrol sales was the biggest in eight years.
“A major factor supporting the strength of Indian demand, aside from the country’s buoyant economic growth, is the policy of capping retail fuel prices far below international levels,” the International Energy Agency said in its monthly report.