How many litres are there in a tonne of diesel in India?

PPAC's conversion table gives 1,210 litres per tonne of diesel, measured at 29.5 C. To move that volume to the 15 C basis used on bulk invoices, multiply by 0.9879, which gives about 1,195 litres. That implies a density near 0.837 kg per litre at 15 C.

The official figures

• Weight to volume: 1 tonne of diesel = 1.2100 kilolitres = 7.61 barrels (PPAC Ready Reckoner FY 2025-26, Table 9.2).
• Temperature: to convert volume at 29.5 C to volume at 15 C, multiply by 0.9879.
• PPAC notes that petrol and diesel figures are as per BS-IV norms.

When to use it

Use it when a supplier invoices diesel in tonnes or kilolitres and you need the other unit, or to sanity-check a quantity. If the invoice or test certificate prints a density, use that instead: it describes your actual batch.

Then to CO2

Once you have kilograms, multiply by the IPCC default of about 3.19 kg CO2 per kg of diesel. Working in mass avoids most temperature and density errors.

Worked example

• Invoice: 12 tonnes of HSD.
• Volume at 29.5 C: 12 x 1,210 = 14,520 litres.
• Volume at 15 C: 14,520 x 0.9879 = 14,344 litres.
• CO2: 12,000 kg x 3.19 = 38,280 kg, about 38.3 t.

Illustrative quantity.

What Senseible does here

Senseible reads the quantity and unit printed on each fuel invoice, converts it with a stated density or calorific value, and shows the factor and source on every line, so a litre or kilogram is never guessed.

• Diesel kg to litres
• Bulk diesel invoice in kilolitres at 15 C
• Fuel volume at 29.5 C vs 15 C

Sources: PPAC Ready Reckoner FY 2025-26, Chapter 9 conversion tables, IPCC 2006 Guidelines, Volume 2 (Energy), default factors

Last reviewed 2026-10-23.