Domestic refiners processed 3.16 million barrels per day (bpd) in November, 3.7 percent less than a year ago, but recovering from a 4.8 percent decline in October despite softening refining margins for the month.

Output from Reliance's 660,000 bpd plant at Jamnagar in western Gujarat state fell 30.4 percent in November from a year ago, its steepest decline since July 2009 when half of the refinery was shut for about 20 days. That led to an annual 38.2 percent decline.

The refinery was partially shut last month for over a fortnight for maintenance.

December refinery output should recover as no major plant shutdowns are scheduled and most refiners will continue the push to meet consistently growing local fuel demand.

Reliance, whose two refineries in western India account for over a third of the country's refining capacity, does not report throughput data for its 580,000-bpd export-focused Jamnagar refinery to the government.

Output of state refiners rose an annual 4.1 percent in the month.

The country's crude oil output during the month rose 17 percent to about 798,580 bpd - still a fraction of the overall needs of the world's fourth-biggest crude importer.

Natural gas output grew 5.5 percent to 4.28 billion cubic meters from a year ago.