Indian state retailers' May petrol sales fall 36%; diesel down 31%

Petrol sales in May by Indian state fuel retailer fell 36% from a year earlier, while diesel sales dropped 31%, provisional data obtained from two industry sources on Monday showed, demonstrating a recovery in fuel demand.

In April, petrol sales declined 61% from a year earlier and diesel sales dropped 57% from a year earlier.

State companies Indian Oil Corp , Hindustan Petroleum Corp and Bharat Petroleum own about 90% of the retail fuel outlets in the country.

The sources who provided the provisional industry data asked not to be identified citing confidentiality.