Indian Oil Corp (IOC), the nation's largest oil firm, may import up to 1.2 million tonne of diesel this fiscal as domestic consumption has seen a growth of 18-20 per cent.
"We are seeing unprecedented growth mainly because diesel is priced lower than industrial fuels like fuel oil and is increasingly finding applications in power generators," IOC Chairman Sarthak Behuria told reporters here.
The company's seven refineries are geared to meet a demand growth of 14-15 per cent, but 18-20 per cent surge in consumption was unexpected.
"We imported 0.2 million tonne of diesel in first quarter of this year. We don't need to import diesel before October," he said, adding that in the second half of 2008-09 fiscal 0.7 to 1 million tonne of diesel may be imported to meet the demand.
The industry, which besides IOC includes sister state-run firms Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum, together may import 3-3.5 million tonne of diesel, Behuria said.