India’s fuel demand is recovering fast in May after falling at a record pace in April following the easing of lockdown that has permitted more vehicles on the roads and increased factory activity.
The diesel and petrol sales by state oil companies have fallen by 28% and 47.5%, respectively, in the first fortnight of May from a year earlier, according to industry executives. This is a sharp improvement from April, when the sale of diesel and petrol had declined by 56.5% and 61%, respectively. State companies control nearly 90% of domestic fuel sales.
A staggered easing of nationwide lockdown has got many factories humming back to life and more goods trucks and passenger cars on the roads, driving up demand for fuel. The first fortnight of April, which overlapped with the first and the strictest phase of the nationwide lockdown imposed to stem the spread of coronavirus had witnessed the sharpest fall in fuel demand with diesel and petrol sales falling 61% and 64%, respectively, from a year earlier.
