New Delhi [India], November 6 (ANI): Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL), the three public sector Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs), on Thursday said they have taken note of the press release issued by the Department of Food, Civil Supplies, Consumer Affairs and Legal Metrology, Government of Karnataka, claiming that “petrol sold at certain retail outlets in the State contains between 26% and 31% ethanol”.
The three OMCs clarified that the claims, as reported, are “not supported by testing conducted in accordance with the prescribed statutory and technical procedures. E20 petrol supplied by the three OMCs across the country, including Karnataka, conforms to IS 17021, the Bureau of Indian Standards specification for ethanol-blended motor gasoline.”
“OMCs have raised concerns regarding the sampling procedure and the methodology adopted for the October 2026 exercise. The Motor Spirit and High Speed Diesel (Regulation of Supply, Distribution and Prevention of Malpractices) Order, 2005, issued under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, read with the Marketing Discipline Guidelines (MDG) 2024, prescribes a defined procedure for sampling, retention, testing and communication of results. The prescribed procedure requires six one-litre samples to be drawn, with two samples handed over to the dealer against acknowledgement, two retained by the oil company or department, and two sent to a laboratory specified under Schedule III of the Control Order or notified in the Official Gazette. The sample labels are required to be jointly signed, and the test results communicated to the dealer and the oil company within the prescribed timeframe,” an official statement issued read.
The three OMCs added that while samples drawn during the September 2026 exercise were routed through the State Level Coordinator to designated OMC laboratories and tested for the quality parameters requested under the MDG 2024, the subsequent exercise in October reportedly involved samples drawn without the participation of OMC representatives.
“The OMCs have also not received the corresponding retention samples, complete outlet-wise details or laboratory reports, despite seeking these through the State Level Coordinator,” it said.
Three OMCs also stated that the reported findings rely on certificates issued by a third-party laboratory rather than testing conducted at a laboratory specified under the Control Order.
“The certificates do not provide the complete technical details necessary to independently verify the reported ethanol content. The absence of counterpart samples and the prescribed documentation has also denied the OMCs and concerned dealers an opportunity to seek verification or retesting,” it said.
“Under IS 17021:2018 (Amendment No. 3, August 2025), ethanol content in E20 fuel is required to be determined through prescribed methods, namely Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) under ASTM D5845, water extraction under Annex C, or Gas Chromatography under ASTM D4815/D6839. Importantly, when Gas Chromatography is used under ASTM D4815/D6839, the sample must first be diluted in a 1:1 ratio with oxygenate-free petrol, and the result corrected against an E10 certified reference material. However, the certificates cited in the Karnataka press release merely mention “Ethanol % by Gas Chromatography”, without specifying the applicable standard test method, the prescribed dilution procedure or the reference material used for correction. In the absence of these essential details, the reported ethanol figures of 26–31% cannot be independently validated against the methodology prescribed under IS 17021,” OMCs said.
Oil Marketing companies also rejected the claims of an estimated annual consumer mileage loss of approximately ₹62,000 crore and vehicle-repair costs of approximately ₹39,000 crore, aggregating to around ₹1.01 lakh crore, which also require careful examination against established technical evidence.
“More than 30 crore two-wheelers and 4 crore four-wheelers have been running on E20 fuel for over three years. Every day, over 6 crore people visit petrol pumps to refuel their vehicles. If there were a widespread issue with E20 fuel quality, it would be expected to manifest in vehicle breakdowns across this large vehicle base. No such widespread incidence has been reported. This extensive, real-world usage is an important consideration in assessing claims relating to fuel quality and vehicle performance. The performance and mileage implications of E20 have been examined by the Inter-Ministerial Committee and through studies involving Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) and the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM),” it said.
“Accordingly, applying a blanket assumption of 10% mileage loss across the entire vehicle population and extrapolating it into a national consumer-loss figure of ₹62,000 crore does not constitute a scientifically established assessment. Similarly, the ₹39,000 crore vehicle-repair estimate needs to be substantiated through a transparent assessment of actual vehicle-performance data, materials compatibility studies and documented repair costs,” it added.
The three OMCs have requested the Government of Karnataka to share the complete sampling documentation, outlet-wise laboratory reports and details of the test methodology adopted for the reported findings.
OMCs also sought access to the counterpart samples for independent testing at an authorised laboratory using the prescribed referee method, in the presence of representatives of the State Government and OMCs. (ANI)