Keralam begins petrol checks to verify ethanol blending levels
Officials are collecting random fuel samples across five districts to ensure ethanol content does not exceed the permissible 20 per cent limit.
The Keralam government on Monday began collecting random petrol samples from fuel retail outlets in Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Kozhikode, Thrissur and Kannur. The exercise aims to determine if ethanol blending in E20 petrol has exceeded the permissible 20 per cent level, according to reports by The Telegraph India and Urban Acres.
Food and Civil Supplies Minister Anoop Jacob said the Civil Supplies Commission was authorised to conduct these checks. He stated that consumers have a fundamental right to know the exact composition of the fuel they buy and noted that higher or lower quality ethanol could affect vehicle mileage.
In Thiruvananthapuram, officials collected six samples from two pumps in the presence of Oil Marketing Company (OMC) representatives. Thiruvananthapuram District Supply Officer S.R. Smitha said the samples would be sent to a laboratory accredited by the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) with results expected within 10 days.
In Kochi, District Civil Supplies Officer Shaji PR said six one-litre samples were collected, with two being sent to an analytical chemical laboratory in Kakinada. The department is currently awaiting those results.
The move follows concerns in neighbouring Karnataka, where the state government claimed 63 petrol samples contained between 26 per cent and 31 per cent ethanol. Karnataka Minister for Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Rizwan Arshad said the state stands by its findings.
The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has refuted these claims, stating that 893 samples of E20 petrol drawn from public sector oil marketing companies across 27 states and Union Territories conformed to prescribed quality standards.