India’s Petrol and Diesel Sales in First Half of July Rise Sharply on Year

India witnessed a substantial surge in fuel consumption during the first half of July 2026. According to preliminary data released by state-run oil marketing companies (OMCs), domestic petrol sales jumped 22.9% year-on-year to reach 16.4 lakh tonnes. Concurrently, diesel sales—the most consumed fuel in the country—recorded a robust 20.9% growth, scaling to 34.7 lakh tonnes during the same 15-day period.

Industry analysts attribute this sharp increase in fuel demand to a combination of vehicular movement and changing weather patterns. An erratic and weaker-than-expected monsoon performance across several regions forced the agricultural sector to heavily rely on diesel-powered irrigation pumps to sustain summer crops, which directly drove up bulk consumption.

Aviation Fuel Remains Steady While LPG Demand Skids
While commercial transport and farming activities pushed primary fuel numbers higher, other petroleum products showed contrasting trends during the first two weeks of July:

Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF): Sales for jet fuel remained largely flat, registering a marginal growth of 0.7% to settle at 3.15 lakh tonnes, indicating steady but stabilizing domestic air traffic.

Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG): In contrast to transport fuels, cooking gas consumption witnessed a sharp decline. Domestic LPG sales plummeted by 17.5%, dropping down to 11.5 lakh tonnes.

Overall, the comprehensive data underscores that the first 15 days of July experienced a powerful demand pull from the transport and agricultural sectors, providing a massive structural boost to India’s energy consumption matrix despite seasonal headwinds.