Sales of petrol and diesel in the first quarter of this fiscal have surpassed the pre-Covid level in Bengal.

Data obtained from the oil industry, which includes both public and private sector retailers,established that sales of diesel have gone up by 3.4 per cent while petrol sales were up by 17 per cent during April-June of 2022, compared to the same period of 2019-20.

Sales of diesel usually suggest a pick up in economic activity while petrol sales are often equated with the rise in private car and two wheeler usage.

“There has been an all round growth in petrol and diesel sales in the first quarter compared to 2019, the pre-Covidtime, in Bengal as well as in the rest of the country,” PritishBharat, executive director and state head of Bengal sales office of IOC, said.

Compared to the last fiscal, the volume growth of petrol and diesel sales are in double digit, indicating consumers are buying the essential commodityregardless of the recordprice at the pump.

He also informed that there has been growth in LPG sales for domestic use.Bharat added that IOC will invest around Rs 564 crore in various projects in Bengal this fiscal.He told reporters here that the projects are a catalytic dewaxing plant at Haldia, augmentation of the Paradip-Haldia-Durgapur pipeline, and a crude pipeline in Haldia. Of them, Haldia projects will attract Rs 240 crore.