How many litres are in a tonne of kerosene or aviation turbine fuel in India, and what is that in kilograms per litre?

The Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) gives 1.2850 kilolitres per tonne for kerosene and 1.2880 for aviation turbine fuel (ATF) at 29.5 degrees Celsius (C). Multiply by 0.9864 and 0.9862 to reach 15 degrees C: about 1,267.5 and 1,270.2 litres. That is roughly 0.79 kilograms (kg) per litre at 15 degrees C.

The PPAC figures

• Table 9.2, Weight to volume conversion: kerosene, 1 tonne = 1.2850 kilolitres = 8.08 barrels. To convert volume at 29.5 degrees C to volume at 15 degrees C, multiply by 0.9864.
• Aviation turbine fuel (ATF): 1 tonne = 1.2880 kilolitres = 8.10 barrels. Multiplier 0.9862.
• Table 9.6 lists the major end use of superior kerosene oil (SKO) in the PPAC table, which is kerosene, as fuel for cooking and lighting, and of ATF as fuel for aircraft.

From litres to kilograms

1. Kerosene at 29.5 degrees C: 1,000 kg / 1,285 litres = 0.7782 kg per litre.
2. Kerosene at 15 degrees C: 1,285 x 0.9864 = 1,267.5 litres per tonne, so 1,000 / 1,267.5 = 0.7889 kg per litre.
3. ATF at 29.5 degrees C: 1,000 / 1,288 = 0.7764 kg per litre. At 15 degrees C: 1,288 x 0.9862 = 1,270.2 litres, so 0.7873 kg per litre.
4. Use the basis your invoice states. As typical practice, not a PPAC statement, retail receipts are at ambient temperature and bulk invoices often at 15 degrees C. The fuel-volume answer on this site explains the choice.

From kilograms to carbon dioxide

• Other kerosene, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2006: net calorific value 43.8 terajoules per gigagram and 71,900 kg carbon dioxide (CO2) per terajoule, so 43.8 x 71,900 / 1,000,000 = 3.1492 kg CO2 per kg, which this page rounds to 3.149.
• Jet kerosene: 44.1 and 71,500, so 3.153 kg CO2 per kg.
• Per litre: kerosene 2.451 at the 29.5 degree density and 2.485 at 15 degrees; ATF 2.448 and 2.482.
• The kerosene factor answer on this site rounds the density to 0.8 kg per litre and gets about 2.5 kg per litre. PPAC's densities put it at 2.45 to 2.49, so that figure is between 0.6% and 2.0% high. This is my arithmetic.

5,000 litres of kerosene, two bases

• Bought at ambient temperature, 29.5 degree basis: 5,000 x 0.7782 = 3,891 kg; 3,891 x 3.1492 = 12,254 kg CO2
• Bulk invoice at 15 degrees: 5,000 x 0.7889 = 3,944.7 kg; 3,944.7 x 3.1492 = 12,423 kg CO2
• Gap: 169 kg, about 1.4%. It is the temperature basis, not a different fuel

Mixing an ambient dip with a 15 degree invoice in one reconciliation shows a gap like this that is only temperature.

What Senseible does here

Senseible reads fuel invoices and electricity bills into monthly records, in litres or kilograms as the invoice prints them. Check which temperature basis a bulk kerosene invoice states.

• Kerosene emission factor per litre
• Fuel volume at 29.5 C or 15 C
• Litres in a tonne of diesel in India
• Furnace oil and kerosene heat values

Sources: PPAC Ready Reckoner 2025-26, Table 9.2 Weight to volume conversion and Table 9.6 Major end use of petroleum products, IPCC 2006 Guidelines, Volume 2, Chapter 1 (Tables 1.2 and 1.4, other kerosene and jet kerosene)

Last reviewed 2026-11-05. Use the density printed on your supplier's invoice or test report when there is one. PPAC's figures are averages.