Petrol and diesel consumption in India increased in May. During this period, demand improved with the onset of the harvest season, coupled with a pick-up in economic activity. According to preliminary data released by the industry on Monday, petrol sales in the first fortnight of May grew by 14 per cent over the same period of the previous month. During this period, the demand for diesel grew by 1.8 percent, while the sale of LPG grew by 2.8 percent during May 1-15.
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Public sector retailers sold 1.28 lakh tonnes of petrol during May 1-15, an increase of 59.7 per cent over the same period last year. This figure is 16.3 percent higher than the corresponding period of 2019. Sales of diesel, the country’s most widely used fuel, grew by 37.8 per cent year-on-year to 30.5 million tonnes in the first fortnight of May. However, this figure is 1.5 per cent lower than the sales in the same period of April 2019.
Industry sources said one of the reasons for the increase in consumption in May is the beginning of the harvesting season. In addition, the lower base effect also led to an increase in sales.