‘E20 turned into 420’:Rahul slams Centre over Karnataka’s over 30% ethanol claims; companies say testing did not follow prescribed norms

Rahul Gandhi questioned the Central government over allegations that petrol in Karnataka contained more ethanol than the prescribed limit. In a post on X, Rahul said the Karnataka government collected 14 petrol samples from seven districts and had them tested at accredited laboratories. Of these, 11 samples were found to contain more than 20% ethanol. The ethanol content was recorded at 31.2% in an Indian Oil sample and 30.5% in a Hindustan Petroleum sample. He asked when action would be taken against these oil companies. He described it as theft of petrol from people’s vehicles. Meanwhile, Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum questioned the test results. The companies said the tests were not conducted in accordance with prescribed legal and technical standards. Under the rules, E20 petrol should contain 20% ethanol. Rahul says customers have no choice either; 3 key concerns… Three oil companies question testing procedure A Karnataka government department had claimed that petrol sold at some fuel stations in the state contained between 26% and 31% ethanol. However, Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum questioned the test results. The companies said the tests were not conducted in accordance with prescribed legal and technical standards. In their statements, the three companies said E20 petrol supplied across the country, including Karnataka, complies with the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) specification IS 17021. This standard applies to ethanol-blended petrol. The companies also questioned the procedure followed for collecting samples in October. They said a 2005 government order and the 2024 Marketing Discipline Guidelines lay down rules for sample collection, preservation, testing and reporting. How much ethanol was found in each company’s petrol? Laboratory tests revealed that petrol supplied by several major oil companies contained ethanol well above the 20% limit. Among samples collected from seven districts, including Bengaluru Urban, IOCL petrol recorded the highest ethanol content at 31.2%. Another IOCL sample contained 20.8% ethanol. HPCL’s Power Petrol contained 30.5% ethanol, while its regular petrol had 27%. BPCL’s Speed Petrol recorded 26.5%, while its other samples contained 24.2% and 22.6% ethanol. Additionally, Nayara’s petrol contained 26.1% ethanol, Shell’s petrol had 25.5%, and MRPL’s petrol recorded up to 19.2% ethanol. Vehicle owners face losses of ₹1 lakh crore Karnataka Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister Rizwan Arshad said the Central government must clearly tell the people how much ethanol-blended fuel they are actually being supplied. According to Karnataka government estimates… Loss due to reduced mileage: If higher ethanol content in petrol leads to a 10% drop in mileage, vehicle owners across the country will suffer annual losses of ₹62,000 crore. Additional maintenance costs: Engine damage and more frequent servicing could impose an additional financial burden of ₹39,000 crore.