Ethanol-blending row: Karnataka seeks independent quality checks of fuel

The Karnataka government, which has taken a combative stand against central oil marketing companies (OMCs) over alleged excess ethanol content in petrol sold in the state, has called for independent quality checks of fuel supplied by PSUs such as Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL).

Karnataka Minister for Food and Civil Supplies Rizwan Arshad, who first alleged that petrol sold in the state contained 31 per cent ethanol blends, as against the prescribed 20 per cent, claimed the oil firms were conducting quality checks “as per their convenience”.

“Compliance has to be confirmed by a third party. When such a check was done by the Karnataka government, with every procedure followed, it showed that the OMCs’ quality monitoring was being done as per their convenience,” Arshad said this week.

State cited private lab findings

At a press conference on November 6, the Karnataka government said tests conducted at a National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories-accredited private laboratory found 31.2 per cent ethanol content in IOCL fuel samples and 30.5 per cent in HPCL samples, both above the mandated 20 per cent.

Arshad claimed that oil companies’ refusal to provide results for ethanol presence in fuel during quality checks for blended fuel had raised suspicion of the presence of higher blends beyond the prescribed 20 per cent.

“IS 17021, the standard the OMCs themselves cite, clearly lays down the procedures for testing ethanol content. Yet not a single OMC report gave that figure. It was the OMC laboratories’ failure to provide the required result that raised the suspicion,” he added.

Defending the state government’s testing exercise, the minister said, “On no grounds can the state’s tests be discredited for this. To protect the consumer, the samples were then sent to NABL-accredited and ISO-certified laboratories. To dispute the findings of an NABL-accredited laboratory is to say that laboratories approved under the Government of India’s own accreditation system are not authentic.”

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Conflict of interest?

Arshad also alleged that OMCs have been monitoring the quality of blended fuels without independent checks. “When the oil companies test their own fuel in their own laboratories and declare themselves compliant, they are acting as both the accused and the judge. That is a clear conflict of interest, and no consumer can be asked to trust it,” he said.

“The OMCs’ own statement says ethanol blending is ‘a controlled and automated process’ carried out at their refineries and depots. If so, the blend in every litre of petrol is decided at the OMCs’ six terminals serving Karnataka, not at the pump. A dealer only sells what the tanker delivers and has no role in the blend. The excess ethanol found is a failure at the source, and the responsibility lies with the OMCs,” Arshad said.

OMCs reject government claims

IOCL, BPCL and HPCL have refuted the Karnataka government’s claims, stating that the reports were not based on “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,” the OMCs said in a November 6 statement.

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The Karnataka government and the OMCs have been engaged in a war of words since the former claimed last week that ethanol-blended fuel sold in the state did not match up to the 20 per cent blend claims and that higher ethanol blends were being sold, leading to an alleged defrauding of the public on the prices paid for petrol.

The controversy has come at an opportune time for the D K Shivakumar-led government, which has been battered by controversies in recent weeks ranging from a sting operation on former chief minister Siddaramaiah, internal power struggles, and hikes in prices of milk products and bus travel.