India’s fuel consumption totalled 14.65 million tonnes in May, 47.4 percent higher than in April but still 23.3 percent lower than a year earlier. As the country eased coronavirus-led restrictions, Oil Ministry data showed India’s fuel demand rose by nearly 50 percent in May from the previous month, signalling a slow revival of economic activity.
As the nation imposed a complete lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus, local sales of refined productshad fallen to their lowest since 2007 in April. At 5.50 million tonnes, consumption of diesel was down about 29.4 percent year-on-year. From a year earlier, sales of gasoline or petrol plunged to 1.77 million tonnes, slumped by 35.3 percent.
Last month, petrol and diesel sales developed by 81.8 percent and 69.1 percent respectively from the previous month. Naphtha sales increased to 1.08 million tonnes, up by 36.4 percent. An increase of about 12.8 percent to 2.32 million tonnes posted by cooking gas or LPG sales. India’s LPG sales are expanding because free cooking gas cylinders are provided by the government to the poor.
