Karnataka authorities claimed fuel bunks affiliated with firms including Indian Oil, BPCL, HPCL, Nayara, Shell, and MRPL exhibited ethanol concentrations reaching as high as 31.2%. The state further raised transparency questions after state-run laboratories failed to disclose biofuel percentages for early submitted batches. In response, public sector retailers cited a ministry monitoring study where 56 Karnataka fuel samples safely averaged 19.3% ethanol within the legal window. The companies have now called for complete disclosure of the state's test parameters and proposed joint evaluations to settle the dispute.
Key points
Oil marketing companies have firmly rejected state findings and demanded access to labora…: Oil marketing companies have firmly rejected state findings and demanded access to laboratory methodologies and counterpart samples.
The state government cited transparency issues after initial petrol samples sent to oil f…: The state government cited transparency issues after initial petrol samples sent to oil firm laboratories yielded no ethanol disclosures.
Retailers have officially offered to conduct a joint sampling and testing operation stric…: Retailers have officially offered to conduct a joint sampling and testing operation strictly following statutory procedural rules.
Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1
NEW DELHI: Public sector oil marketing companies (OMCs) on Friday hit back at Congress-led Karnataka govt's claims that petrol tested by labs authorised by it had found ethanol content exceeding the prescribed 20% limit, and said the findings were not supported by tests conducted under statutory and technical procedures.
Karnataka food, civil supplies and legal metrology minister Rizwan Arshad had claimed that tests conducted by its authorised laboratories on petrol samples from across the state were "alarming", showing ethanol content as high as 31.2%.
Late in the evening, rebutting the claims, the three oil retailers -
Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation - questioned the sampling and testing methodology adopted during an Oct exercise by the state govt, arguing that the procedure did not follow the requirements laid down under the Motor Spirit and High Speed Diesel Control Order, 2005, and Marketing Discipline Guidelines (MDG), 2024. They said the samples were drawn without the participation of their representatives.
Countering the state's findings, the fuel retailers said all 893 samples collected from OMC depots and retail outlets…
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