Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Nov 7: The Centre on Saturday rejected the Congress-controlled Karnataka government’s allegations of higher percentage of blending of ethanol in petrol and maintained that the tests conducted by the state-run oil companies under the prescribed statutory conditions did not support the allegations.
The union ministry of petroleum and natural gas quoting three state-run oil companies citing concerns over the sampling and testing procedures adopted during the exercise followed by the Karnataka government and said E20 petrol supplied by them across the country, including Karnataka, conforms to IS 17021, the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) specification for ethanol-blended motor gasoline.
In an official release, the Ministry said of Petroleum and Natural Gas reiterated that E20 petrol supplied by Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) across the country, including Karnataka, conforms to the Bureau of Indian Standards specification IS 17021.
The ministry said the three oil marketing companies (OMCs) clarified that tests conducted under prescribed statutory and technical procedures did not support the allegations. The companies also raised concerns over the sampling procedures and testing methodology adopted during the October 2026 exercise.
The Karnataka government on Friday alleged that major oil marketing companies were supplying petrol with ethanol content exceeding the prescribed 20 per cent limit, with laboratory tests recording levels as high as 31.2 per cent. It also sought action against the companies.
Addressing a press conference, Food, Civil Supplies, Consumer Affairs and Legal Metrology Minister Rizwan Arshad said the allegations were based on tests conducted on petrol samples collected from Bengaluru, Kolar, Chikkaballapura, Bengaluru Rural, Ramanagara, Mangaluru and Tumakuru.
Among the other samples tested in the Motor Spirit (MS) category, ethanol content was recorded at 20.6 per cent in Nayara petrol, 19.9 per cent in a BPCL sample, 19.2 per cent in a Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL) sample and 13.5 per cent in a Shell sample.
The minister reiterated that samples collected from major fuel companies had allegedly revealed ethanol levels exceeding the prescribed limit, with IOCL and HPCL recording concentrations of 31.2 per cent and 30.5 per cent, respectively.
Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Saturday alleged that certain petrol companies were supplying fuel containing ethanol beyond the prescribed limit.
Citing laboratory tests of samples collected from seven districts in Karnataka, Gandhi claimed that 11 of the 14 petrol samples tested at an accredited laboratory contained ethanol levels exceeding 20 per cent.
In a post on X, the Congress leader cited test results from IOCL and HPCL, which allegedly showed ethanol concentrations of 31.2 per cent and 30.5 per cent, respectively.
“Your car wasn’t built to handle that much ethanol, meaning lower mileage, repeated trips to the mechanic. A car you bought with such enthusiasm is being ruined,” he wrote.
According to the union ministry, the prescribed procedure for petrol testing requires six one-litre samples to be collected. Of these, two samples must be handed over to the dealer against acknowledgement, two retained by the oil company or the concerned department, and the remaining two sent to a laboratory specified under Schedule III of the Control Order or notified in the Official Gazette.
The concerned officials must jointly sign the sample labels, and the test results must be communicated to both the dealer and the oil company within the stipulated timeframe.
The ministry further stated that samples collected during the September 2026 exercise were routed through the State Level Coordinator to designated OMC laboratories and tested for quality parameters specified under the Marketing Discipline Guidelines (MDG) 2024.
However, the subsequent October exercise reportedly involved samples collected without the participation of OMC representatives. The companies also claimed they had not received the corresponding retention samples, complete outlet-wise details or laboratory reports, despite requesting these through the State Level Coordinator.
The companies sought sampling records and laboratory reports from the state government, calling for independent verification. In a joint statement, the three OMCs also said, “The OMCs would like to clarify that the claims, as reported, are not supported by testing conducted in accordance with the prescribed statutory and technical procedures.”
According to them, the samples reportedly drawn by the Karnataka government were collected without the participation of OMC representatives. “The OMCs have also not received the corresponding retention samples, complete outlet-wise details or laboratory reports, despite seeking these through the State Level Coordinator,” they said in their joint statement.
Further, the reported findings rely on certificates issued by a third-party laboratory rather than testing conducted at a laboratory specified under the control order, the statement said. The certificates do not provide the complete technical details necessary to independently verify the reported ethanol content, it said. “The absence of counterpart samples and the prescribed documentation has also denied the OMCs and concerned dealers an opportunity to seek verification or retesting,” it added.
The three public sector OMCs said the Centre for High Technology (CHT), an arm of the petroleum ministry, has been continuously monitoring ethanol blending and fuel quality across retail outlets. Citing 893 samples of E20 fuel drawn from IOC (330), BPCL (280) and HPCL (283) depots and retail outlets across 27 states and Union Territories, the statement said all 893 samples were found “within the prescribed ethanol content range of 19-21%”.
“Significantly, all 56 samples tested in Karnataka, comprising samples from different locations and all three OMCs, also conformed to the prescribed specifications, recording ethanol content between 19% and 20%, with an average of 19.30%,” it said.
These results demonstrate that ethanol blending at OMC retail outlets is monitored and controlled within the prescribed specifications, it said. “The findings are inconsistent with the substantially higher ethanol levels reported in the Karnataka press release and reinforce the need for a transparent, technically sound and jointly verifiable testing exercise,” it added.
The three OMCs sought transparency and independent verification of the Karnataka government’s charge and requested the state government to share the complete sampling documentation, outlet-wise laboratory reports and details of the test methodology adopted for the reported findings.
They have also sought access to the counterpart samples for independent testing at an authorised laboratory using the prescribed referee method, in the presence of representatives of the state government and OMCs.