Covid-19: Deserted streets, fleeing workers threaten India's oil demand

After dipping by about 2 per cent in March from February, overall consumption of oil products looks set to extend declines this month.

The usually teeming streets of India’s commercial capital of Mumbai looked more like a scene from a post-apocalyptic movie last weekend, an ominous sign for energy demand in the world’s third-biggest oil importer.

On Marine Drive, which overlooks the Arabian Sea, the regular hustle and bustle was completely absent, while Dr Dadabhai Naoroji Road, a thoroughfare that runs past one of the world’s busiest railway stations, was also eerily empty.

That’s a gloomy portent for India, where fuel consumption still hasn’t fully recovered from last year’s national lockdown that saw oil demand fall to the lowest since 2007. After dipping by about