The Karnataka government on Friday, November 6, alleged that major oil marketing companies are supplying petrol with ethanol content well above the prescribed 20 per cent E20 limit, saying laboratory tests on samples collected across seven districts recorded levels as high as 31.2 per cent, The Hindu BusinessLine reported.

Source: The Hindu BusinessLine

Food, Civil Supplies, Consumer Affairs and Legal Metrology Minister Rizwan Arshad released the findings at a press conference in Bengaluru under the state’s Mission Nikhara – Measurement Guarantee initiative. He said the tests followed complaints from motorists about falling mileage and rising vehicle maintenance costs, IANS reported.

Source: IANS via AsiaPost

63Petrol samples collected by Karnataka’s Legal Metrology Department from outlets of IOCL, HPCL, BPCL, Nayara, Shell and MRPL
11 of 14Samples with detailed results that recorded ethanol above the 20 per cent E20 limit
31.2%Highest ethanol level found — in an Indian Oil (IOCL) sample
30.5%Ethanol in a Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL) sample, the second-highest reading

What the tests found

The samples were drawn from Bengaluru, Kolar, Chikkaballapura, Bengaluru Rural, Ramanagara, Mangaluru and Tumakuru and tested at the Shriram Research Institute in Bengaluru, a laboratory accredited by the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) and ISO-certified, the state government said. Of the 14 samples for which detailed results were released, 11 were above 20 per cent, with readings ranging from 13.5 per cent to 31.2 per cent.

Source: The Hindu BusinessLine

According to the results cited by IANS, HPCL petrol recorded 27 per cent ethanol, BPCL’s MS-Speed 26.5 per cent, Nayara petrol 26.1 per cent and Shell petrol 25.5 per cent, alongside the IOCL and HPCL highs. The state said four out of five petrol pumps surveyed were selling fuel above the E20 level.

Source: IANS via AsiaPost

The state’s cost claim — and its demands

The Karnataka government claimed that higher ethanol blending cuts mileage and can damage fuel-system parts including filters, fuel pumps, injectors, hoses and seals. Its estimate — a state government calculation that has not been independently verified — put the burden at about Rs 62,000 crore a year from a 10 per cent mileage loss alone, assuming national petrol consumption of 6,200 crore litres at Rs 100 a litre, plus about Rs 39,000 crore in repairs, for a combined figure of roughly Rs 1.01 lakh crore a year. Arshad claimed nearly 99 per cent of India’s estimated 35 crore vehicles were not designed for blends above E20, and that even vehicles sold after April 2023 are certified only up to E20.

Source: The Hindu BusinessLine

The state demanded action against oil companies found supplying petrol above 20 per cent ethanol, mandatory display of the ethanol blend percentage at every petrol pump in the country so consumers can make an informed choice, batch-wise blending records and pump-level audit reports, and an E20 compensation fund to reimburse vehicle owners for verified damage through a time-bound claims process based on assessments by authorised service centres. Arshad said Karnataka would keep testing samples and act against malpractices under the Motor Spirit and High Speed Diesel (Regulation of Supply and Distribution and Prevention of Malpractices) Order, 2005.

Source: IANS via AsiaPost

The minister also argued that the Centre’s foreign-exchange saving case for ethanol blending had not translated into tangible benefits for consumers, citing combined profits of Rs 77,821 crore reported by IOCL, BPCL and HPCL in 2025-26. The reports read for this story carried no response from the Union Petroleum Ministry or the oil marketing companies; their reply is awaited.