India’s fuel demand in May rose 9.7% year-on-year, while diesel sales continued to climb to hit a fresh peak, data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) of the oil ministry showed.

Consumption of fuel, a proxy for oil demand, totalled 20.03 million tonnes in May, up from 18.54 million tonnes in April, according to the data released on Wednesday.

Sales of diesel, mainly used by trucks and commercially run passenger vehicles, increased around 5.1% in May to 8.22 million tonnes from a month earlier, the highest ever, as per PPAC data going back until 1998.

Gasoil, or diesel, accounts for about two-fifths of refined fuel consumption in India and is directly linked to industrial activity.

Sales of gasoline, or petrol, were 16% higher than the previous month at 3.35 million tonnes.

Cooking gas or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) sales increased 9.3% to 2.35 million tonnes and naphtha sales rose 6.5% to 1.15 million tonnes.

Sales of bitumen, used for making roads, ticked down 2.7%, and fuel oil use fell 3.4% in May.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Ananya Bajpai and Kavya Guduru in Bengaluru; Editing by Sohini Goswami)