Sales of petrol, diesel slump 50%, LPG rises

April 17, 2020 15:55

A spectacularly empty Mumbai-Pune Expressway

India's fuel consumption slumped by a record 50 per cent in April as all petroleum products except LPG saw massive demand erosion following a nationwide lockdown halted economic activity and travel. According to provisional industry data for fuel consumption in the first half of April, petrol sales were down 64 per cent, while diesel slumped by 61 per cent. Aviation turbine fuel consumption collapsed by 94 per cent as most airlines have stopped flying. The only fuel that showed growth was LPG as the government dole of free cooking gas cylinders to poor households fired up consumption by 21 per cent during April 1 to 15, the data showed. Overall the decline in petroleum product sales was 50 per cent, it said.

The data pertains to sales made by three public sector oil marketing companies. Private firms such as Nayara Energy do not share mid-month sales trend and their numbers get reflected only in the monthly consumption numbers released by the oil ministry in the second week of every month. Industry officials said this is the biggest ever drop in sales and the first data for the complete lockdown period. -- PTI

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