NEW DELHI: The Centre on Saturday rubbished allegations of excess ethanol blending in petrol, stating that all 893 samples tested across 27 states and Union Territories met prescribed standards.
This comes even as Keralam ordered inspections of fuel outlets and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi demanded disclosure of actual ethanol content in petrol sold across the country.
Keralam’s decision followed Karnataka government’s allegation that petrol supplied by major oil marketing companies contained ethanol above the prescribed limit, with tests recording levels as high as 31.2 per cent.
Countering the allegation, the Petroleum Ministry said tests by Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum found all 893 samples within the permissible 19–21 per cent range under the Bureau of Indian Standards’ IS 17021 specification.
These included 56 samples collected across Karnataka from outlets of the three companies.
Keralam said it ordered the inspections as a precaution following Karnataka’s allegations, though no instance of excess ethanol blending had been detected in the state so far. Samples will be collected from outlets in Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam, Kozhikode and Kannur districts and sent for testing.
Rahul, meanwhile, cited Karnataka’s findings to question the Centre’s assurances. “Look at the results,” he said, citing readings of 31.2 per cent at an IOC outlet and 30.5 per cent at an HPCL outlet. He alleged that samples from outlets of IOC, HPCL, BPCL, Nayara and Shell had exceeded the limit.
The three public sector oil companies, however, challenged the sampling and testing procedures adopted during Karnataka’s October exercise. They said the findings could not be independently validated without technical details and compliance with prescribed procedures.
The October exercise was conducted without their representatives, they said. Despite requests through the coordinator, they said they had not received retention samples, outlet details or laboratory reports.
