Aviation turbine fuel sales rose 1.8% from a year earlier in May, according to sales data from IndianOil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum. The three state-run companies control 90% of petrol, diesel and aviation fuel market, and nearly entire domestic LPG market.
Sales data for the industry, including private sector, slated to be issued by the oil ministry in a week, will provide a clearer picture of fuel consumption in May.
In April, LPG sales by state-run companies had dropped about 16% year-on-year.
The unusually high growth in diesel sales by state-run fuel retailers in May points to a significant demand shift away from pumps operated by private retailers. Diesel sales typically grow at a much slower pace than petrol due to the fuel’s comparatively much larger consumption base. Yet, at 6.4%, diesel sales growth outpaced petrol in May, despite India consuming about two-and-half times more diesel than petrol. In many places, bulk diesel consumers shifted to retail pumps to take advantage of cheaper fuel available there.