Rahul Gandhi challenges Centre over E20 petrol ethanol content levels

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday escalated criticism of the government's E20 petrol initiative, pointing to fuel quality tests conducted in Karnataka that he claims expose discrepancies between advertised and actual ethanol content.

In a social media post, Gandhi alleged that the Karnataka government had collected petrol samples from seven districts and sent them to an accredited laboratory for analysis. According to his claims, 11 of the 14 samples tested contained ethanol levels exceeding 20 per cent, with readings as high as 31.2 per cent at IOCL pumps and 30.5 per cent at HPCL outlets.

"All retailers—whether government-owned or private, including IOCL, HPCL, BPCL, Nayara, and Shell—have exceeded the stipulated limit," Gandhi stated, demanding transparency from the Centre regarding actual fuel composition being distributed nationwide.

The opposition leader's comments come as E20 petrol, which is intended to reduce carbon emissions and support India's ethanol blending targets, continues its rollout across the country. His challenge to the government underscores ongoing concerns about fuel quality standards and regulatory oversight in the petroleum sector.

The Centre has not yet responded to the allegations regarding the variance in ethanol content across fuel pumps.