Petrol, diesel sales soar in May

New Delhi: India’s petrol and diesel sales soared in May as agriculture demand picked up and cars yanked up air-conditioning with the onset of summer, preliminary industry data showed on Thursday.

Demand for diesel, the most consumed fuel in the country accounting for about two-fifths of the demand, soared 9.3 per cent to 7.46 million tonne in May compared to the year-ago period. In April, diesel demand had risen 6.7 per cent year-on-year and the consumption in May was better than that. Month-on-month sales rose 4.2 per cent when compared with 7.16 million tonne of diesel consumed in April.

Petrol sales rose 10.4 per cent to 3.08 million tonne in May 2023 when compared with the same period last year. Sales were up 16.5 per cent month-on-month, the data showed. Petrol and diesel sales have been on the rise from the second half of March on the back of a pick-up in industrial and agriculture activity.

In the first half of March, petrol sales had fallen 1.4 per cent and diesel 10.2 per cent year-on-year. And consumption soared in May as air-conditioning needs rose with a rise in temperature. Consumption of petrol last month was 72 per cent more than Covid-marred May 2021 and 23.7 per cent more than pre-pandemic May 2019.