History of Kerosene in India: From Lighting Lamps to Running Cars

Kerosene was a big part of Indians’ daily lives not so long ago. Here’s a brief history of how it made its mark.

Here’s the story of how kerosene became an integral part of Indians’ daily lives.

(Photo: Abhishek Ranjan/The Quint)

Presenter: Aditya Vij
Multimedia producer: Abhishek Ranjan

The story of how kerosene got big in India and grew as an inseparable part of our lives is really something. Since its discovery, kerosene made many daily activities much easier. Kerosene is a combustible hydrocarbon which is extracted from petroleum and was widely used in industries and households.

Canadian physician Abraham Gesner found the formula to make kerosene in the late 1840s, just before the Industrial Revolution in 1856. Industries used kerosene to generate power and as a fuel, and it became popular for household uses too. People started using kerosene in lamps and for cooking.

FDI in kerosene began in India around 80-90 years ago. Americans saw a large market in India. The ‘ESSO’ company was incorporated in India, but with a different name, on 5 July 1952. It was called the ‘Standard Vacuum Refining Company of India Limited’. Burma Shell, with the help of Indians, discovered kerosene in India, which they began extracting and selling across the country.

As a result, India became quite dependent on the fluid. Lamps and lanterns used in homes used to run on kerosene. Cars ran on kerosene, motorbikes ran on kerosene, even fans ran on kerosene. Kerosene gave birth to many other offshoot industries, like lamps, the silk mantles used in lamps, kerosene-operated irons, and many more. Kerosene in India became such an important part of daily life that it was sold in ration shops!

Today, electricity has replaced kerosene, penetrating to even the most remote of places. The kerosene that once powered bikes and cars has become largely obsolete, with those modes of transport being abolished as cleaner and more refined fuel became available.