Industry Odisha Bureau, Oct 27: India earned ₹2.59 lakh crore from petroleum product exports in April–September. That marks growth of nearly 50% from a year earlier in rupee terms. Yet shipment volume declined about 16% over the same six months. The figures come from petroleum and natural gas ministry data, as reported by ET.
The gap between value and volume tells the story. India sold less fuel abroad but was paid far more for each barrel. High international prices did most of the work. A weaker rupee then magnified the gain when dollars were converted home.
In dollar terms, export earnings increased nearly 40%. That figure removes the currency effect, leaving price and volume changes. Regional benchmark prices for diesel rose 83% on average during the period. Petrol benchmarks climbed 54%. Diesel averaged $151 a barrel and petrol $120, according to the report.
These are refined-product benchmarks, not crude prices. Diesel faced pressures beyond crude’s rise, ET reports. Attacks on Russian refineries and a tight supply-demand balance pushed prices higher. In some months, diesel touched record highs. Crude itself stayed elevated as the near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz disrupted supplies. Benchmarks also differ from actual realisations. Contract terms, freight and timing decide what refiners finally receive.
The rupee added a second boost. It averaged ₹95.17 to the dollar in April–September. A year earlier, the average was ₹86.44. That slide of nearly nine rupees lifted the rupee value of every dollar earned. This explains why rupee growth outpaced dollar growth across all products.
But translation gains are not profits. The same weak rupee makes imported crude costlier in domestic terms. Refiners buy crude in dollars and sell exports in dollars. Their margin depends on the spread between the two, not the exchange rate alone.
Diesel export made the largest contribution to the earnings surge. Its earnings rose 58% in rupee terms to about ₹1.2 lakh crore. Volumes still declined about 19%. In dollar terms, diesel earnings increased 48%. Diesel made up 42% of export volume, the biggest share of any fuel.
Petrol followed the same pattern on a smaller scale. Earnings rose 21% in rupee terms to ₹58,000 crore. Dollar earnings grew 13%, while shipments fell 24%. The accompanying infographic puts petrol’s volume decline slightly steeper, at 25.4%. Petrol accounted for 23% of export volume. Together, diesel and petrol brought in nearly 70% of rupee earnings.
Aviation turbine fuel shows the sharpest volume drop. ATF export volume fell 29.6%, according to the infographic. Its rupee earnings still rose 36.5%, and dollar earnings 27.6%. ATF production also fell 12%, while consumption stayed flat.
The reason for shrinking volumes lies at home. Diesel consumption grew about 5% and petrol about 7% during the six months. Production, however, slipped 0.3% for diesel and 0.8% for petrol. With demand rising and output flat, less fuel was left to export. An industry executive told ET the domestic surplus had tightened. Demand held up despite geopolitical uncertainty and higher pump prices.
Exports are concentrated among a few refiners. Reliance Industries handles about 70% of India’s fuel exports, according to ET. Rosneft-backed Nayara Energy, state-run MRPL and others supply the rest. A windfall tax of about $37 a barrel applied to diesel exports in September. It does not cover Reliance’s export-only Jamnagar refinery, India’s main diesel exporter. Such levies show that higher prices do not flow fully into refiner margins.
The wider trade picture is less flattering. India imports nearly 90% of the crude it consumes. Government data shows the oil import bill rose 48% to nearly $75 billion in April–August. Petroleum product exports were worth $21.7 billion over those five months. ET reports that only about a quarter of import dollars return through exports. By volume, India exports roughly a fifth of the crude and fuel it imports.
Higher oil prices therefore raise net dollar demand from refiners. That pressure, along with foreign capital outflows, has weighed on the rupee. Still, product exports offer a partial cushion. Petroleum products averaged 11.2% of India’s gross exports in July–September, per PPAC. That was their highest quarterly share in twelve quarters.
The outlook rests on four moving parts. Global fuel prices, the rupee, refinery output and domestic demand will all matter. If product prices ease, earnings could cool even with stable shipments. If home demand keeps outpacing output, export volumes may stay under pressure. For now, India is earning more from less, but paying more too.
