Bengaluru: Karnataka chief minister DK Shivakumar Sunday asserted that investigations into excessive ethanol blend — more than 30% against the prescribed 20% — in fuel stations in the state were comprehensive and covered processing units where the fuel and the chemical are blended.
The companies had reportedly tested samples at 700-800 fuel stations across the country but had not found problems alleged by the state govt, Vijayendra said.
The govt has taken the issue seriously,” he said, adding information has been shared with the Union govt. He said Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum had issued clarifications following the state govt’s claim that ethanol content in petrol samples tested in Karnataka was higher than the prescribed limit. “It is not right to increase the blending ratio just to profit from ethanol available at a lower cost. BJP state president BY Vijayendra challenged the state govt to disclose the standards it followed while testing petrol samples for ethanol blending and cooperate with oil-marketing companies in conducting joint tests to establish the facts.
Stating that the Centre cannot shirk its responsibility as public safety is paramount, the CM said food and civil supplies minister Rizwan Arshad will release a detailed report on Monday with documentary evidence on how and where the blend is done.
Leader of the opposition, R Ashoka, wondered whether Karnataka had laboratories equipped to conduct high-quality tests and raised doubts over the reliability of the samples being examined.