E20 has become 420: Rahul Gandhi on excess ethanol in Karnataka petrol samples

Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has accused major oil marketing companies of supplying petrol with ethanol content exceeding the prescribed 20 per cent limit, citing laboratory tests of fuel samples collected from seven districts in Karnataka.

In a post on X on Saturday, Gandhi claimed that 11 of the 14 samples tested at an accredited laboratory contained more than 20 per cent ethanol.

Taking a swipe at the Centre's ethanol-blending programme, Gandhi said, "E20 turned into 420 - stealing petrol from the public's cars!" He accused both public sector and private fuel companies of exceeding the prescribed blending limit and questioned the transparency of their testing processes.

According to the findings cited by Gandhi, samples from Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) recorded ethanol concentrations of 31.2 per cent and 30.5 per cent, respectively.

The samples were collected from seven districts in Karnataka — Bengaluru, Kolar, Chikkaballapura, Bengaluru Rural, Ramanagara, Mangaluru and Tumakuru.

Gandhi also named Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), Nayara Energy and Shell among the companies whose fuel samples were part of the testing exercise.