Aug 9 (Reuters) - India’s fuel demand rose 7.9 percent in July compared with the same month last year. Consumption of fuel, a proxy for oil demand, totalled 16.83 million tonnes, data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) of the oil ministry showed. Sales of gasoline, or petrol, were 16.4 percent higher from a year earlier at 2.63 million tonnes. Cooking gas or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) sales increased 4.6 percent to 2.37 million tonnes, while naphtha sales fell 5.3 percent to 1.21 million tonnes. Sales of bitumen, used for making roads, were 3.8 percent up, while fuel oil use edged lower 5.1 percent in July. (Bengaluru Commodities Desk) Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.