Indian state retailers’ sales of gasoline fell in the first half of June from the same period last month as well as a year earlier, preliminary sales data showed on Friday, as a heat wave curtailed mobility.

Sales of gasoline, used in passenger vehicles and two-wheelers, fell 3.8% to 1.31 million tonnes in the first half of June from the same period a month ago, the data showed.

However, sales of gasoil, mainly used by trucks, rose 3.4% to 3.43 million tonnes, according to the data.

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

State-run companies – Indian Oil Corp IOC.NS, Hindustan Petroleum Corp HPCL.NS and Bharat Petroleum BPCL.NS – own about 90% of India’s retail fuel outlets.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Nallur Sethuraman in Bengaluru and Nidhi Verma in New Delhi; Editing by Savio D’Souza)