Country expected to pass Japan as world’s 3rd largest oil user Auto industry to benefit as workers buy personal transporation India’s $13 billion pay increase for federal employees will boost car and motorcycle purchases, increasing fuel use in a country with the world’s fastest oil demand growth. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet this week decided to increase salaries for federal government employees resulting in a payout of roughly 849 billion rupees ($13 billion) for 4.7 million workers and 5.2 million pensioners in the year through March 2017. The move is seen as a boon for auto sales, which have been the driving force behind the country’s accelerating oil consumption. “There will be lot more activity,” S. Varadarajan, chairman of India’s second-largest oil marketing company Bharat Petroleum Corp., said in phone interview. “Two wheeler sales will go up, cars will go up. So automatically all these will lead to an […]