Petrol sales up 12.3%; diesel slides 2.3% in April 2024

India’s petrol consumption soared 12.3% in April, but diesel sales continued to slide.

India's petrol consumption soared 12.3% in April, but diesel sales continued to slide despite the country entering into hectic electioneering for general elections, preliminary data of state-owned firms showed on May 01.

Petrol sales of three state-owned firms, which control 90% of the fuel market, rose to 2.97 million tonnes in April compared to 2.65 million tonnes of consumption in the same period last year.

Diesel demand dropped 2.3% to 7 million tonnes. Demand for the nation's most consumed fuel had fallen 2.7% in March.

This is despite India going into general elections where automobiles largely driven on diesel are used extensively for campaigning.

While petrol sales were up mostly due to an increase in the use of personal vehicles on the back of a price cut, crop harvesting season and the onset of summer, which will increase the demand for air conditioning in cars as well as the electioneering holds out hope for reversing the trend in diesel demand.

Petrol and diesel prices were in mid-March reduced by ₹2 per litre, ending a nearly two-year-long hiatus in rate revision.

Month-on-month petrol sales dropped 5.3% compared to 2.82 million tonnes of consumption in March. Diesel demand was however 4.4% higher month-on-month against 6.7 million tonnes in March.