Published Nov 09, 2026 | 11:14 PM ⚊ Updated Nov 09, 2026 | 11:14 PM
Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Prahlad Joshi. (File photo)
Synopsis: Union Minister Prahlad Joshi alleged that the Karnataka government’s findings of excessive ethanol content in petrol sold by oil marketing companies in the state were a “classic case of choosing sensationalising over responsible governance”. He maintained that tests conducted by the OMCs showed an average ethanol content of 19.30 percent in 56 samples and cast doubt on the validity of the state’s tests, which recorded concentrations as high as 31.2 percent.
Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Prahlad Joshi on Monday, 9 November, alleged that the Karnataka government’s findings of excessive ethanol content in petrol sold by oil marketing companies (OMCs) in the state were a “classic case of choosing sensationalising over responsible governance”.
In a post on X, Joshi maintained that the OMCs’ own tests of 56 samples from Karnataka showed ethanol content ranging between 19 percent and 20 percent, with an average of 19.30 percent. The statement came hours after Karnataka Food and Civil Supplies Minister Rizwan Arshad stood by independent tests conducted by the Department of Legal Metrology, which recorded ethanol concentrations as high as 31.2 percent in samples collected from different locations across the state.
The Union minister also cast doubt on the validity of the tests, saying that none of the testing laboratories were approved Schedule III labs.
“The Karnataka certificates state only “Ethanol % by Gas Chromatography”. They do not mention the test method, calibration, dilution or reference sample. The samples showing 26–31% ethanol content in Karnataka recorded densities of just 0.742–0.749 g/cc. In contrast, the samples tested by Oil Marketing Companies, which confirmed compliant E20 petrol, recorded higher densities of 0.752–0.760 g/cc. With more than 20% ethanol content the density should have been much higher than the E20 Petrol (sic),” Joshi wrote.
“How ever it was not (sic). More over none of the labs that tested these samples were part of the approved schedule 3 labs that are notified in the gazette. The deficiencies in its sampling procedure, retention samples and laboratory certification raise serious questions about the credibility of the measurement.”
Joshi’s statement comes three days after three state-run OMCs, Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL), rejected Karnataka’s findings.
Addressing the media at Vikas Soudha earlier on Monday, Arshad had slammed the OMCs’ response, saying it suggested that Karnataka lacked the technical capacity to determine ethanol content in petrol.
He also noted that the state had sent 63 petrol samples to the OMCs’ own laboratories for testing but had received no results on their ethanol content.
Karnataka Minister Arshad’s press conference on ethanol blending is a classic case of choosing sensationalism over responsible governance.
Instead of creating alarm through unverified claims of 26–31% ethanol in petrol, the Minister should have first examined the official test results. All 893 samples tested across 27 States and UTs complied with the prescribed 19–21% range. More importantly, all 56 samples tested in Karnataka by the OMCs were compliant, recording 19–20%, with an average of 19.30%.
The Karnataka certificates state only “Ethanol % by Gas Chromatography”. They do not mention the test method, calibration, dilution or reference sample.
The samples showing 26–31% ethanol content in Karnataka recorded densities of just 0.742–0.749 g/cc. In contrast, the samples tested by Oil Marketing Companies, which confirmed compliant E20 petrol, recorded higher densities of 0.752–0.760 g/cc. With more than 20% ethanol content the density should have been much higher than the E20 Petrol. How ever it was not.More over none of the labs that tested these samples were part of the approved schedule 3 labs that are notified in the gazette.
The deficiencies in its sampling procedure, retention samples and laboratory certification raise serious questions about the credibility of the measurement.
But there is a much bigger question the Karnataka Government needs to answer.
Is the Congress Government in Karnataka now opposed to the very ethanol programme that was started by them. Infact in 2005, the then Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Iyer had said that they want to increase ethanol blending, if ethanol availability improves. Now the same congress is opposing it.
Since 2014–15, the Ethanol Blended Petrol programme has facilitated over ₹1.66 lakh crore in payments to farmers. It has created an additional market for sugarcane, improved the liquidity of sugar mills and helped ensure timely payment of sugarcane dues. Nearly 97% of sugarcane dues for the 2025–26 season had already been paid as of August 20, 2026.
Now look at Karnataka’s own ethanol figures:
• In 2025–26, Karnataka distilleries were allocated 165.89 crore litres of ethanol, including 97.54 crore litres from sugarcane-based feedstocks.
• Of the 30 lakh metric tonnes of sugar diverted for ethanol across India, Karnataka alone accounted for 11.92 lakh metric tonnes as of August 31, 2026 — nearly 40% of the national diversion.
And here is the fundamental contradiction:
If the Karnataka Government believes ethanol blending is detrimental to farmers, why does it seek greater ethanol allocation for its sugar industry?
The ethanol programme has also helped India save over ₹1.97 lakh crore in foreign exchange, substitute approximately 316 lakh metric tonnes of crude oil imports and reduce CO₂ emissions by approximately 952 lakh metric tonnes.
The question is simple: Is the Karnataka Congress Government standing with its farmers, or is it putting political sensationalism ahead of their economic interests?
— Pralhad Joshi (@JoshiPralhad) November 9, 2026
Joshi also took aim at the Congress party, accusing it of double standards over ethanol blending. He asserted that the ethanol blending programme had benefited farmers since the Modi government came to power in 2014.
“Is the Congress Government in Karnataka now opposed to the very ethanol programme that was started by them. Infact in 2005, the then Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Iyer had said that they want to increase ethanol blending, if ethanol availability improves. Now the same congress is opposing it (sic),” he wrote.
“Since 2014–15, the Ethanol Blended Petrol programme has facilitated over ₹1.66 lakh crore in payments to farmers. It has created an additional market for sugarcane, improved the liquidity of sugar mills and helped ensure timely payment of sugarcane dues.”
He also said Karnataka accounted for a substantial portion of the sugarcane diverted for ethanol production and questioned why the state government was seeking greater ethanol allocation for its sugar industry if it believed that “ethanol blending was detrimental to farmers”.
“The ethanol programme has also helped India save over ₹1.97 lakh crore in foreign exchange, substitute approximately 316 lakh metric tonnes of crude oil imports and reduce CO₂ emissions by approximately 952 lakh metric tonnes. The question is simple: Is the Karnataka Congress Government standing with its farmers, or is it putting political sensationalism ahead of their economic interests? (sic)” he wrote.
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
