New Delhi: Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Saturday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to tell the country how much ethanol is actually going into its fuel tanks, citing Karnataka government tests that found more than 20 per cent ethanol in 11 of 14 samples, and said his standing challenge for a debate now covers the fuel economy as well.
"E20 has become '420'" — a play on the cheating section of the old penal code — Gandhi wrote in a Hindi post on X, alleging that consumers are paying heavy fuel prices for what is largely ethanol. He said the Karnataka government collected petrol samples from seven districts and had them tested at an accredited laboratory, with a sample from Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL) recording 31.2 per cent ethanol and one from Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL) 30.5 per cent.
He said the excess showed up across state-run and private retailers — IOCL, HPCL, Bharat Petroleum, Nayara and Shell — and that the companies' own laboratories had not reported ethanol content at all. "Tell us, Modi ji, what is being filled in the country's tank?" he asked, demanding to know when action would be taken against companies blending above the 20 per cent limit.
The three public sector oil marketing companies rejected the state's findings on Friday, saying the claims were "not supported by testing conducted in accordance with the prescribed statutory and technical procedures." E20 petrol sold by them conforms to IS 17021, the Bureau of Indian Standards specification, they said, citing 893 samples drawn from depots and retail outlets in 27 states and union territories, all of which tested within the prescribed 19-21 per cent range. In Karnataka, 56 samples tested between 19 and 20 per cent, averaging 19.30 per cent, the companies said.
They said the October 2026 exercise was carried out without OMC representatives, that they had not received retention samples, outlet-wise details or laboratory reports despite asking the State Level Coordinator, and that the findings rested on a third-party certificate rather than a laboratory specified under the Motor Spirit and High Speed Diesel (Regulation of Supply, Distribution and Prevention of Malpractices) Order, 2005.
Karnataka Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister Rizwan Arshad announced the results on Friday, saying 63 samples had been collected. The department first sent them to the in-house laboratories of IOCL and BPCL, whose reports did not disclose ethanol content despite it being a prescribed parameter, he said. The same samples were then tested at the Shriram Research Institute, Bengaluru, a NABL-accredited and ISO-certified laboratory, using gas chromatography.
The state has sought action against companies over-blending, compensation for damaged vehicles through an "E20 spoilage fund", mandatory display of blend percentages at every pump and a choice of blends. Arshad said 99 per cent of India's 35 crore vehicles are not built for blends above E20, and that even vehicles sold after April 2023 are certified only up to E20.
The row pits a Congress government in Karnataka against the BJP-led Centre over the ethanol blending programme, which New Delhi has promoted as a way to cut the crude import bill, support sugarcane farmers and lower emissions.
(With inputs from PTI and media reports)