Election pushes up fuel sales

OMCs attribute it to electioneering, rise in fishing activities

Despite the prices remaining high, fuel sales have gone up in the State in March, thanks to a combination of factors like electioneering, increase in fishing activities and the use of personal vehicles for transportation. “In the southern States, for the oil industry as a whole till March 28, diesel growth was only 13.5%, whereas for Tami Nadu it is 17%. Similarly, for petrol, the growth is 12.7% against Tamil Nadu’s growth of 13.3%,” said an industry source, who added that the data was not to be compared with last year’s figures since the lockdown began at March-end owing to the pandemic. An oil marketing company official said that the growth in diesel sales was due to increased economic activity, electioneering and fishing. “We are getting good demand for diesel from the south like Ramanathapuram and Thoothukudi from fishing vessels. Last year, during the lockdown, fishing, too, had come to a stand still,” he said.