Image source: Sanchit Khanna/Hindustan Times via Getty Images
The dispute between oil marketing companies and the Congress government of Karnataka regarding adulteration of ethanol in petrol has deepened.
The Karnataka government claims that petrol samples were taken from seven districts of the state and tested in recognized labs, in which at many places the ethanol content was found to be more than the prescribed 20 percent.
According to the Karnataka government, in some samples this quantity has been recorded up to 31.2 percent. However, major oil companies have rejected these allegations.
The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas also issued a statement on this controversy and said that in the tests conducted across the country, all the samples of petrol were found to be in accordance with the prescribed standards.
At the same time, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has cornered the Central Government on this matter. He asked that if more than 20 percent ethanol is being mixed in petrol, then when will action be taken against the oil companies concerned?
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Karnataka government's claim regarding ethanol adulteration
Actually, Karnataka's Food and Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister Rizwan Arshad had held a press conference on Friday.
In this he told that the Consumer Affairs Department of the state government had collected petrol samples from 63 places in seven districts.
These include Bengaluru, Chikkaballapur, Bengaluru Rural, Ramanagara, Mangaluru and Tumkuru and other districts.
Arshad said, "In the samples taken from petrol pumps of major oil companies, the quantity of ethanol was found to be more than 20 percent. In the samples of two companies, this quantity was recorded at 31.2 percent and 30.6 percent. Out of the total data of 14 places, at only three places the quantity of ethanol was found to be less than 20 percent."
"Initially the samples were sent to the internal laboratories of Indian Oil Corporation and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited. However, the reports of these laboratories did not mention the actual quantity of ethanol. Subsequently the samples were tested in accredited laboratories."
Rizwan Arshad clarified that the state government is not against ethanol blending, but mixing of ethanol beyond the prescribed limit is increasing the financial burden on consumers.
Image source: Rizwan Arshad
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Rizwan Arshad says that the vehicles available in the Indian market are not designed to use such high ethanol blend fuel.
He said, "Many car companies had written letters to the Central Government saying that their vehicles are ready for petrol mixed with 10 percent ethanol. The vehicles sold after April 2023 have also got approval to use only E20 i.e. petrol mixed with 20 percent ethanol."
"Excessive amounts of ethanol can damage filters, fuel pumps, injectors, pipes and seals of vehicles. This causes consumers to bear an additional expense of Rs 39,000 crore on vehicle repairs."
He said that due to ethanol mixture the mileage reduces by about 10 percent.
Considering the price of petrol at Rs 100 per litre, he claimed that consumers suffer a loss of around Rs 62 thousand crore annually.
According to Arshad, including both types of losses, consumers are facing an additional financial burden of about Rs 1.01 lakh crore annually.
Rizwan Arshad has demanded from the Central Government to clarify the actual quantity of ethanol being mixed in petrol. He said that action should be taken against oil companies that mix more than 20 percent ethanol.
What did the oil companies say on these allegations?
Image source: Raj K Raj/Hindustan Times via Getty Images
On the other hand, Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum have also reacted on this matter.
These oil companies said that the E20 petrol being supplied across the country including Karnataka is as per the standard IS 17021 set by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).
This standard has been set for ethanol mixed petrol.
Indian Oil Corporation has issued a statement on social media platform X calling the claims of Karnataka government wrong.
The company said that the recent claims of ethanol being mixed in excess of the prescribed limit at some petrol pumps do not match the tests conducted under the prescribed testing procedures.
According to the company, a total of 893 samples were tested in 27 states and union territories of the country.
These included 56 samples from Karnataka. The company claims that the amount of ethanol in all the samples was found to be within the prescribed limit of 19 to 21 percent.
"Indian Oil, along with Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited, has proposed to the Karnataka government to conduct a joint and transparent investigation to clarify the real situation," the official statement said.
The company also appealed to consumers to trust verified information from official sources.
Petroleum Ministry issued statement
Image source: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Amidst this controversy, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has also issued an official statement. The ministry said that E20 petrol being sold by government oil companies is meeting the prescribed quality standards.
The ministry said, "E20 petrol being sold by government oil companies is meeting the prescribed quality standards. In the tests of 893 samples taken in 27 states and union territories, all have been found to be as per the prescribed standards."
"All 56 samples tested in Karnataka have also been found to be as per IS 17021 standards. The ethanol content in them was found to be between 19 to 20 percent."
The ministry said that the Center for High Technology (CHT) under it continuously monitors the quality of ethanol blending and petrol at the petrol pumps of oil companies.
Rahul Gandhi asked- When will the action be taken?
Image source: Vipin Kumar/Hindustan Times via Getty Images
Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has also reacted to this controversy. Rahul also claimed that when petrol was tested in many districts of Karnataka, more than 20 percent ethanol was found in E20 petrol.
He wrote on Twitter, "Modi government says that petrol contains 20 percent ethanol. Karnataka government took petrol samples from seven districts and got them tested in a recognized lab."
Rahul Gandhi claimed that more than 20 percent ethanol was found in 11 out of 14 samples. Of these, 31.2 percent ethanol was found in a sample from IOCL and 30.5 percent ethanol was found in a sample from HPCL.
Rahul Gandhi said, "You are paying for expensive petrol and the tank is being filled with ethanol. The loss in this is yours."
Rahul Gandhi asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi that when will action be taken against companies mixing more than 20 percent ethanol?
Published by Collective Newsroom for the BBC.
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