Retail sales of passenger vehicles (PV) and two-wheelers in India jumped 17% and 21%, respectively, in November to all-time highs, a dealers' body said on Wednesday, adding that the ongoing wedding season was fuelling the growth further.

Sales of PVs and two-wheelers grew to 360,000 units and 2.2 million units in November, respectively. This took overall retail sales to 2.9 million units, an 18% year-on-year rise, data from the Federation of Automobile Dealers Association (FADA) showed.

The industry body provides data about vehicle sales made by dealers to customers.

The back-to-back festive and wedding season this year has meant bumper retail sales, as Indians generally make big-ticket purchases during such occasions.

"India is witnessing approximately 3.8 million weddings between Nov. 23 – Dec. 15, a period that typically sees high vehicle sales, especially in rural India," FADA said in a release.

Vehicle sales also rose 19% during this year's festive season, which ran for roughly 40 days between October and November.

Retail sales data is among the key indicators used to assess India's private consumption, as it has a weighting of more than 50% in calculating economic growth.

Data from automakers also showed two-wheeler makers outshone their four-wheeler counterparts in November, thanks to better rural demand, prompting optimism for two-wheeler demand till the end of fiscal 2024.

While the sales made a dent in PV inventory, the stock continued to remain above 60 days' worth, FADA said, noting that year-end discounts could improve December sales and help clear inventory.

The average inventory for the segment ranged between 63 days and 66 days in October, an all-time high, FADA said last month.

Last week, an executive at top carmaker Maruti Suzuki said the company would focus on clearing inventory and would moderate its wholesale volumes in December. (Reporting by Nishit Navin and Nandan Mandayam in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)