By Nidhi Verma
    NEW DELHI, July 1 (Reuters) - India's auto fuel demand
picked up in June as economic activity accelerated after the
easing of pandemic-related lockdowns, preliminary sales data
showed on Thursday.
    State-run refiners sold 2.12 million tonnes of gasoline last
month, up 29.35% from May and about 5.7% from the year-earlier
period.
    Sales of gasoil, which accounts for about two-fifths of
India's overall refined fuel consumption and is directly linked
to industrial activity in Asia's third-largest economy, rose
18.5% from May to 5.36 million tonnes, but were down 1.84% from
June 2020.
    Compared to June 2019, demand for gasoline and gasoil last
month slipped 10.4% and 18.8%, respectively.
    Fuel demand in India would recover to pre-pandemic levels by
the end of this year after being hit by a deadly second wave of
coronavirus, oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on
Tuesday.
    In May, local fuel consumption, a proxy for oil demand, 
slumped to its lowest since last August as lockdowns and travel
restrictions in several states stalled mobility and muted
economic activity.
    State-run Indian Oil Corp, Hindustan Petroleum Corp
 and Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd own about 90%
of India's retail fuel outlets.
Below is a table of India' preliminary daily fuel sales data
with volumes in million tonnes.
    
    Product      June 2021   % chg      % chg       %chg vs
                             mth/mth     yr/yr     June 2019
 Gasoline             2.12      29.35       5.66       -10.39
 Gasoil               5.36      18.51      -1.84       -18.84
 Jet Fuel             0.23       -4.2       9.86       -61.75
 Liquefied            2.24       6.44       9.52        26.31
 Petroleum Gas                                    
 
 (Reporting by Nidhi Verma, Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)