Consumption of diesel in Delhi has surged by 15 per cent while that of petrol went down by nearly 1.5 per cent in 2011-12 compared to the year before, reflecting a growing preference for diesel cars in the city.
As per the latest Delhi Government statistics, consumption of diesel in the city was 9.34 lakh metric tonnes in 2011-12 as against 8.11 lakh metric tonnes in 2010-11.
The increase of around 1.33 lakh metric tonnes of diesel in 2011-12 came when 5.05 lakh new vehicles were added to the city roads in the same period, taking the total to 74.38 lakh from 69.32 lakh in 2010-11.
However, consumption of petrol went down to 8.13 lakh tonnes in 2011-12 as against 8.25 lakh tonnes in the year previously which is a decline of 1.45 per cent.
Officials attributed the increase in diesel consumption to rise in the number of diesel-run vehicles in the city.
The city had only 5.62 lakh vehicles in 1981. The total number of vehicles in Delhi is more than combined total of vehicles in Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata. On an average, over 1,000 vehicles are added to the city roads every day.
As per the figures, the consumption of CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) swelled by around 9 per cent in 2011-12 as compared to its consumption in 2010-11. The city consumed a total of 6.49 lakh metric tonnes of CNG in 2011-12 as against 5.96 lakh metric tonnes in the previous year. In 2009-10, 5 lakh metric tonnes of CNG was consumed.
The national capital consumed 7.31 lakh metric tonnes of cooking gas (LPG) in 2011-12 as against 7.09 lakh metric tonnes in 2010-11. The consumption of LPG in 2008-09 and 2009-10 was 6.42 lakh metric tonnes and 6.80 lakh metric tonnes respectively.
According to statistics, consumption of kerosene came down by a whopping 55 per cent in 2011-12 as compared to 2010-11. The city consumed 48,000 metric tonnes of kerosene as against 1.07 lakh tonnes in 2010-11.