India's petrol and diesel sales growth moderated in April while cooking gas LPG consumption fell as record high prices dented demand, preliminary industry data showed on Sunday.
Petrol sales growth moderated to 2.1 per cent in April when compared with the same period in the preceding month, while diesel demand was almost flat. Cooking gas LPG, which had consistently shown growth even during the pandemic period, saw a massive 9.1 per cent month-on-month drop in consumption during April. State-owned oil firms had on March 22 ended a 137-day hiatus in rate revision and began passing a USD 30 per barrel increase in cost of raw material (crude oil) during that period when five states including Uttar Pradesh went to polls.
Petrol and diesel prices rose by Rs 10 per litre between March 22 and April 6 -- the highest-ever increase during a 16-day period since fuel prices were deregulated two decades back.On March 22, cooking gas prices too were hiked by Rs 50 per cylinder to Rs 949.50 -- the highest-ever rate for the subsidised fuel.The price increases moderated the consumption.
Petrol sales by state-owned fuel retailers, which control roughly 90 per cent of the market, at 2.58 million tonnes during April were nearly 20.4 per cent higher than the same period last year.