Karnataka and oil companies dispute ethanol levels in petrol

TL;DR in 30 sec

• Karnataka’s government said private laboratory tests found up to 31.2% ethanol in petrol, above the 20% limit, The Indian Express reported.
• IOCL, BPCL and HPCL said the claims were not based on testing done under the prescribed procedures, according to a PTI report carried by The Federal.
• The petroleum ministry said all 893 samples in its own monitoring exercise were within the 19-21% range, The Indian Express reported.
• Kerala began inspecting fuel outlets and collecting petrol samples on Monday, The Indian Express reported.

What happened

A row in Karnataka over how much ethanol is in petrol has now pushed a second state to test its own fuel.

On 6 November, Karnataka Food and Civil Supplies Minister Rizwan Arshad said independent laboratory tests found “31.2% ethanol blending in IOCL and 30.5% in HPCL, exceeding 20%,” The Indian Express reported. The state tested 63 petrol samples, and four of every five contained more than 20% ethanol, he said, according to the same report.

The results he cited came from the Shriram Research Institute in Bengaluru, which The Indian Express described as NABL-accredited and ISO-certified.

The three public sector oil marketing companies, Indian Oil (IOCL), Bharat Petroleum (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL), rejected the claim in a joint statement. “The OMCs would like to clarify that the claims, as reported, are not supported by testing conducted in accordance with the prescribed statutory and technical procedures,” the statement said, according to PTI.

On 9 November, Karnataka said it stood by its findings, The News Minute reported. The same day, Kerala’s Civil Supplies Minister Anoop Jacob had officials inspect nine fuel outlets in four districts and collect samples, The Indian Express reported. “No incident of ethanol being blended beyond the prescribed limit has been reported in Keralam so far,” he said.

Why it matters for India 🇮🇳

Oil companies sell petrol with up to 20% ethanol under a notification of the Union petroleum ministry, The Indian Express reported. This blend is called E20.

Karnataka has linked higher ethanol content to vehicle damage and higher costs for motorists, The News Minute reported. It has demanded strict action against over-blending, compensation for affected consumers and mandatory disclosure of ethanol content at fuel stations, according to The Indian Express.

The petroleum ministry said the Ethanol Blended Petrol Programme is meant to reduce dependence on imported crude oil, support farm value chains and improve energy security, The Indian Express reported. The ministry also said claims of about ₹1.01 lakh crore a year in mileage losses and vehicle-repair costs need careful examination against established technical evidence, according to the same report.

Background

The rules for taking fuel samples come from the Motor Spirit and High Speed Diesel (Regulation of Supply, Distribution and Prevention of Malpractices) Order, 2005, PTI reported. Under this order, six one-litre samples are drawn: two go to the dealer, two are kept by the oil company or the department, and two go to a designated laboratory, the oil companies said.

Karnataka collected its samples in Bengaluru, Kolar, Chikkaballapura, Bengaluru Rural, Ramanagara, Mangaluru and Tumakuru, PTI reported.

The samples were first sent to oil company laboratories, which did not report the ethanol content, according to The Indian Express. The state then went to NABL-accredited private laboratories, the same report said. NABL is the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories.

The oil companies say ethanol is blended at refineries and depots through calibrated, automatic systems. “It is not a manual or arbitrary process of adding ethanol to petrol,” they said, The Indian Express reported.

Different perspectives

Karnataka’s government says its samples were collected by authorised officers and that sample labels were jointly signed with dealers, as the 2005 Order requires, The News Minute reported. It argues that testing in laboratories owned by the oil companies amounts to the companies checking their own products, and it has called for an independent testing system, according to the same report.

The oil companies and the petroleum ministry say samples in the October exercise were reportedly drawn without their representatives, and that the findings rely on certificates from a third-party laboratory rather than one specified under the 2005 Order, The Indian Express reported.

In a monitoring exercise with the Centre for High Technology, all 893 E20 samples from 27 States and Union Territories, including 56 from Karnataka, were within 19-21%, the ministry said. The Karnataka samples averaged 19.30%, it added. The companies have asked to test the counterpart samples at an authorised laboratory with both sides present, The Indian Express reported.

Kerala’s government says it has received certain complaints, but no case of excess blending has been reported in the state so far, The Indian Express reported.

Open questions 🤔

• What will a joint test of the counterpart samples, with the state and the oil companies present, show?
• What will Kerala’s laboratory tests of the nine petrol samples find?
• Will the Union government respond to Karnataka’s demand for ethanol content to be displayed at fuel stations?

What to watch next

Kerala expects results from government chemical laboratories within 10 days, Minister Anoop Jacob said, The Indian Express reported. Karnataka’s minister Rizwan Arshad is expected to call a meeting with representatives of the oil marketing companies, The News Minute reported.