Electioneering at its peak but diesel sales slide, petrol almost flat
diesel sales continued to slide in May while petrol consumption was almost flat despite election campaigns for the general elections hitting a peak, preliminary data of state-owned firms showed on Thursday. Electioneering for general elections traditionally has led to a surge in fuel demand as candidates extensively use automobiles to reach voters. But the trend in sales by PSUs so far does not reflect that.
Petrol sales of three state-owned firms, which control 90 per cent of the fuel market, at 1.367 million tonnes in the first half of May was almost the same as 1.36 million tonnes of fuel consumed in the same period last year. Month-on-month consumption however soared 11 per cent.
Diesel sales dropped 1.1 per cent to 3.28 million tonnes during May 1 to 15. The demand for the nation's most consumed fuel had fallen 2.3 per cent in April and 2.7 per cent in March.
Besides electioneering, the summer harvest season is also the scorching summer that increases the demand for air conditioning in cars, which should lead to a rise in fuel consumption.
Also, petrol and diesel prices were in mid-March reduced by Rs 2 per litre, ending a nearly two-year-long hiatus in rate revision, which should also propel sales.
Month-on-month petrol sales were up 11 per cent compared to 1.23 million tonnes of consumption in April 1-15. Diesel demand was 4 per cent higher month-on-month against 3.15 million tonnes in the first half of April.
Diesel is India's most consumed fuel, accounting for almost 40 per cent of all petroleum
