Karnataka’s Food and Consumer Affairs Department has found that petrol containing more than the permitted 20% ethanol was allegedly sold as E20 at 63 fuel stations across the state, Food and Civil Supplies Minister Rizwan Arshad said at a press conference on Friday. He said laboratory tests found ethanol levels above 20% in four out of every five samples examined.
The samples were collected from fuel stations in Bengaluru, Kolar, Chikkaballapur, Bengaluru Rural, Ramanagara, Dakshina Kannada and Tumakuru after the department received complaints from members of the public about petrol being sold with excessive ethanol blending. The department collected samples and sent them to the respective oil companies for testing, according to the minister.
Arshad said the oil companies replied that the blending levels were correct but did not provide the requested data on the actual ethanol content. The department then sent the samples to laboratories recognised by the Central Government. Those tests found that some samples contained ethanol above the prescribed E20 level, although the fuel had been sold as E20, he said.
The minister alleged that the highest level of irregularity was found at outlets operated by state-owned Indian Oil Corporation Limited and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited. The report also refers to alleged violations involving both state-owned and private oil companies. The minister did not identify individual outlets or provide a complete set of laboratory reports in the report published by Prajavani.
E20 refers to petrol blended with 20% ethanol. Arshad questioned how oil companies could sell petrol containing 25%, 26%, 30% or higher ethanol blends when the permitted level was 20%. He also sought answers from Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on the ministry’s oversight of blending by public and private oil companies.
The minister further questioned whether fuel savings from ethanol blending were being passed on to consumers. He cited claims that the NITI Aayog had linked E20 use to a 2-3% reduction in fuel efficiency, while alleging that the actual reduction in some vehicles was between 10% and 30%. These figures were presented by Arshad at the press conference and were not independently established in the supplied report.
Arshad also alleged that consumers had spent an additional Rs 62,000 crore on petrol during the 2025-26 financial year because of lower fuel efficiency, and that vehicle repairs linked to the use of E20 petrol in incompatible vehicles had cost Rs 40,000 crore in one year. The report does not include the methodology or supporting documents for these estimates. He further alleged that oil companies made profits of Rs 77,000 crore in 2025-26 and raised questions about links between ethanol businesses and the family of Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari.
The Karnataka department said it would send the laboratory reports to the Union Petroleum Ministry and seek legal action against the companies. The supplied report does not state whether the Union ministry has responded, whether enforcement proceedings have begun, or what action has been taken against the fuel stations concerned.
