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INDIA’S petroleum ministry yesterday rejected a report by authorities in the southern state of Karnataka that some petrol pumps there sold fuel with more ethanol than the 20 per cent limit, saying its own tests showed supplies met national standards.
Four in five petrol pumps surveyed in India’s southern state of Karnataka were selling fuel blended with ethanol content above the permitted 20pc limit, a minister in the opposition-ruled state government said on Friday.
The findings had raised fresh concerns about fuel quality as India expands the use of E20 fuel, a petrol blend consisting of 20pc ethanol, as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s drive to reduce crude imports, lower emissions and support domestic ethanol producers.
Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi called the matter ‘petrol theft’ and urged Modi to disclose actual ethanol levels and act against companies that over-blend.
Gandhi also alleged that the companies’ own laboratories had failed to report the ethanol content in the samples.
Questioning the impact on consumers, Gandhi said higher ethanol blending could affect vehicle mileage and increase maintenance costs, claiming that cars not designed to handle such fuel could suffer damage.
The petroleum ministry questioned how the state government drew and tested its samples.
It added that state-run fuel retailers Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum had also disputed the findings and had sought independent testing of Karnataka’s samples.
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