India’s petrol and diesel sales soared in May on the back of a surge in summer travel to escape from the heat and vacation during annual breaks at educational institutions, preliminary industry data showed on Wednesday. Petrol sales by state-owned fuel retailers, which control roughly 90 per cent of the market, at 2.8 million tonnes in May was 55.7 per cent higher than the same period last year when a devastating second COVID-19 wave wreaked havoc on the economy.
This consumption was 76 per cent higher than the demand in May 2020 and 12 per cent more than 2.5 million tonnes of sales in the pre-COVID May 2019. Month-on-month sales were up 8.2 per cent, as per the preliminary data.
