The Bhutanese Leading the way.
The import of fuel grew from Nu. 7.963 bn in 2015 to Nu. 8.977 bn in 2016 from, with a growth of approximately 13 percent.
Petrol import increased by almost 2 percent in 2016 as compared to the previous year.
In 2016, 359.60 million litres of petrol was imported, up from 338.81 million litres in the previous year.
Likewise, import of diesel grew by 4.46 percent in 2016 as compared to 4.11 percent in 2015.
Bhutan imported around 127.54 million litres of diesel last year compared to 122.10 million litres in 2015.
The total supply of fuel increased from 155,972 KL (kilo litres) in 2015 to 163,499 KL last year, an increase of 5 percent.
According to the Environmental Accounts Report use of petrol grew by 6 percent in 2016 while that of diesel increased by 5 percent approximately.
The service sector accounts for consumes 38.30 percent of the fuel imported, the highest, followed by household at 21.10 percent. Industrial sector accounts for 19.51 percent, agriculture 11.95 percent and consumption by foreign vehicles at 9.14 percent.
In terms of percentage share, diesel import accounts for 78 percent and petrol 22 percent in 2016.
Meanwhile import of vehicles has continued to increase. Last year, 9,419 units of vehicles were imported of which 6,188 were light vehicles, 990 were heavy vehicles, 734 were two wheelers, 628 were taxis, 399 were earth moving equipment and 229 were power tillers.
The household sector owns the highest with 62.42 percent followed by service sector with 24.63 percent and agriculture, livestock and forestry sector accounts for 19.57 percent.
Indian vehicles plying on Bhutanese roads transporting goods in and out of Bhutan also consumes some portion of the fuel, such as Indian tourist vehicles and refueling by Indian vehicles in the border towns of Samdrup Jongkhar, Gelephu, Phuentsholing and Samtse.
This re-export of fuel decreased from 19.85 million litres in 2015 to 14.94 million litres last year, a decrease by 25 percent. “The decrease was mainly because of decrease in the re-export of diesel, almost 39.05 percent in 2016,” the report stated.
