New Delhi, November 7: All 893 samples of E20 petrol collected from 27 states and Union Territories met the prescribed quality standard, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said on Saturday, as public-sector oil marketing companies (OMCs) rejected a Karnataka government claim that some retail petrol in the state contained 26–31% ethanol.
The three OMCs, Indian Oil (IOCL), BPCL and HPCL, said the claim did not match the legally and technically required testing procedure. They said E20 petrol supplied across India, including Karnataka, conforms to the IS 17021 standard.
What the nationwide tests found
The ministry said 893 E20 samples were tested nationwide: 330 from IOCL, 280 from BPCL and 283 from HPCL. All fell within 19–21% ethanol. In Karnataka, 56 samples were tested; all were between 19% and 20% ethanol, averaging 19.30%.
The OMCs also pointed to density readings. Karnataka’s claim cited densities of 0.742–0.749 g/cc, while the companies’ own surveys recorded 0.752–0.760 g/cc for E20 samples. They said higher ethanol content should raise density, not lower it.
Dispute over sampling
The OMCs said September samples were tested at their laboratories, but October samples were taken without their representatives present. They said they asked the state coordinator for retained samples, outlet-wise data and laboratory reports, and did not receive them.
Under the sampling protocol, six one-litre samples are drawn: two go to the dealer, two are retained by the OMC or the department, and two go to a notified laboratory. The companies said the Karnataka certificates cite only “gas chromatography” for ethanol content, without naming the test method, dilution procedure or reference material used to correct results.
They have asked Karnataka for all sample documents, outlet-wise reports and the test methodology, and want counterpart samples tested jointly at an authorised laboratory using the referee method. The ministry said the OMCs would cooperate with joint sampling and act on any irregularities found.
Mileage and cost claims
The ministry also addressed claims of consumer losses of about ₹62,000 crore a year in mileage and about ₹39,000 crore in repairs, a total of roughly ₹1.01 lakh crore. It said a uniform 10% mileage loss is not scientifically sound.
Citing an August 2025 ministry document, it said the mileage reduction is about 1–2% for vehicles designed for E20 and about 3–6% for some other vehicles. More than 30 crore two-wheelers and over 4 crore four-wheelers have run on E20 for more than three years, it said, and over 6 crore people visit petrol pumps daily.
Ethanol programme in numbers
According to the ministry, the ethanol blending programme has delivered the following since ethanol supply year (ESY) 2014-15:
- forex savings of over ₹1.97 lakh crore;
- about 316 lakh metric tonnes of crude oil replaced;
- about 952 lakh metric tonnes of CO₂ emissions avoided; and
- over ₹1.66 lakh crore transferred to farmers.
In ESY 2025-26, which ended on 31 October 2026, OMCs bought 1,089 crore litres of ethanol and blended 1,134 crore litres against petrol sales of about 5,673 crore litres.
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