After steep price hike, bulk diesel buyers rush to buy from retail outlets

Indian bulk diesel buyers are snapping up diesel from retail stations as pump prices are Rs. 25 ($0.33) a litre cheaper than their bulk contract prices, a spokesperson for a fuel retail joint venture of Reliance Industries Ltd and energy major BP said.

Indian state-run fuel retailers, who dominate local fuel sales, have not raised pump prices since Nov. 4 despite a surge in global oil and fuel prices, but they have continued to raise prices of direct sales for industrial or bulk clients in line with the terms of those contracts.

Reliance, operator of the world's biggest refining complex at Jamanagar, supplies some fuels to state-run refiners and also taps the retail market directly through sales at RBML's fuel stations.

Sales of gasoil, which accounts for about two-fifths of India's overall refined fuel consumption, surged to pre-pandemic levels in the first half of March, rising by 32.8% from a month earlier.

The surge in diesel sales is putting pressure on the country's logistics and supply infrastructure, the spokesperson said, adding that Reliance is committed to meeting the demand of its retail customers and its export contracts.