Rahul questions E20 petrol after Karnataka tests flag excess ethanol

Congress leader E20 fuel, on Saturday attacked the Modi government over the rollout of E20 petrol, citing test results of samples collected by the Karnataka government, and asked the Centre to come clean on the actual ethanol content in fuel being sold across the country.

In a post in Hindi on X, Gandhi said, “E20 turned into 420 – stealing petrol from the public’s cars!” The reference was to Section 420 of the erstwhile Indian Penal Code, which dealt with cheating.

Gandhi said the



government claims that petrol contains 20 per cent ethanol, but tests conducted on samples collected from seven districts in Karnataka had revealed higher levels.

“The Karnataka government collected petrol samples from 7 districts and had them tested at an accredited lab. Look at the results – 11 out of 14 samples contained more than 20 per cent ethanol; 31.2 per cent at IOCL, 30.5 per cent at HPCL; IOCL, HPCL, BPCL, Nayara, Shell – whether government-owned or private – all exceeded the limit,” he claimed.