Reliance BP & Nayara Energy fuel sales outgrow PSU peers'
According to industry data, private players grew both their combined domestic diesel and petrol retail sales by 19.7% year-on-year in FY25. By comparison, state-run companies' combined diesel sales dropped by 0.6%, while petrol grew by 6.4%. The overall sales growth for private and public retailers combined was 7.5% in petrol and 1.2% in diesel.
Private players grew both their combined domestic diesel and petrol retail sales by 19.7% year-on-year in 2024-25, according to industry data.
By comparison, state-run companies’ combined diesel sales dropped by 0.6%, while petrol grew by 6.4%. The overall sales growth for the private and public sectors combined was 7.5% in petrol and 1.2% in diesel.
Private players’ share of the petrol retail market grew to 9.2% in 2024-25 from 8.3% in the previous year, while their share of diesel expanded to 10.1% from 8.6%. By comparison, their shares of petrol and diesel retail were 9.6% and 10.5%, respectively, in 2021-22. Private sector players deployed promotions, including price discounts and offering higher value fuels at regular prices, to win over more customers.
“It’s natural for state-run companies—Indian Oil, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum—to lose some share as the private sector expands,” said a state company executive.
“But their market share gains are small and not a cause of concern for us.” Behind the private sector’s limited share gains is their smaller retail network and slow expansion.
Nayara Energy (6,664), Reliance-BP (1,891) and Shell (362) operate a combined 8,917 pumps across the country.
By comparison, state companies operate 86,340 pumps.
Private players have added only about 1,630 pumps in the past five years, while state companies have added 24,550 pumps.
Live Events Last week, Reliance BP Mobility CEO Harish Mehta said India has too many petrol pumps, many of which are “unproductive” as they have very low sales volume.
“I strongly believe that India is an overpopulated fuel retail country,” he said.
The faster expansion of the fuel retail network in the country has brought down the average sales volume for pumps over the past decade, while tremendously benefiting drivers in remote and rural areas who previously had to drive long distances to fill up. A challenge for the private sector has been the concentration of their supply sources in Gujarat.
Transporting fuels all the way from their refineries in one state to serve customers across the country hasn’t been economically rewarding.
This is the reason they have a much higher share of the market in Gujarat and adjoining areas than in other states.
