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NEW DELHI - Indian state refiners' gasoil and gasoline sales surged to a three-month high in March on increased demand from dealers and consumers ahead of an expected sharp rise in retail prices after elections in key states.

State refiners' average daily sales of gasoline and gasoil were 86,850 tonnes and 227,650 tonnes respectively, 14.2% and 5% higher than the pre-pandemic levels of March 2019, preliminary sales data shows.

India's overall fuel sales during the month will be higher because some industrial clients bought from retail stations of private refiners.

Reliance Industries, operator of the world's biggest refining complex in India, last month said that bulk diesel buyers are snapping up fuel from retail stations because pump prices were cheaper than bulk contract prices.

State-run Indian Oil Corp, Hindustan Petroleum Corp and Bharat Petroleum Corp, which together own about 90% of the country's retail fuel outlets, kept pump prices steady for more than four months despite a surge in global prices.

However, they continued to raise diesel prices for industrial or bulk customers.

The state fuel retailers began a gradual increase in pump prices from March 22 after elections concluded on March 10, leading to a continued stocking up by dealers.

Sales of gasoil, which accounts for about two fifths of India's overall refined fuel consumption, are also directly linked to industrial activity in Asia's third-largest economy.

India's gasoline sales have been rising since the country eased its pandemic lockdown, with people preferring to use their own vehicles rather than public transport for safety reasons.

Below is a table of Indian state retailers' preliminary fuel sales with volumes in thousand tonnes per day.

Refined Fuel March % Chg %Chg %Chg vs %Chg vs

2022 mth/mth yr/yr 2020 2019

Gasoline 86.9 6.0 8.7 38.6 14.2

Gasoil 227.7 10.5 10.1 41.6 5.0

Jet Fuel 15.8 11.7 9.8 7.5 -27.6

Liquefied 81.8 -6.1 12.0 10.6 12.5

Petroleum Gas

(This story corrects to read thousand tonnes (not tonnes) in paragraph 10)

(Reporting by Nidhi Verma; editing by David Goodman)