India will import about 2.4 million tons of diesel next fiscal as the nation's domestic consumption has seen double digit rise in the past few months.
Indian Oil alone would import about one million tons in 2008-09, up from 0.5 million tons in the previous year, company Chairman Sarthak Behuria told reporters in New Delhi.
Diesel demand has grown by about 15 per cent during the past few months and a conservative 10 per cent growth would see the entire domestic diesel production exhausted, necessitating imports.
India is surplus in refining capacity as 148 million tons installed capacity outstrips domestic demand of 120 million tons. But, the demand for diesel is way above the production. LPG imports in 2008-09 would also rise by about 10 per cent to 2-3 million tons while kerosene imports are seen steady at 1.2-1.5 million tons.