The three public sector Oil Marketing Companies – Indian Oil Corporation Limited, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited – have clarified that the E20 petrol supplied by them across the country complies with the Bureau of Indian Standards specifications for ethanol-blended motor gasoline.

The clarification follows a press release issued by the Karnataka Government’s Department of Food, Civil Supplies, Consumer Affairs and Legal Metrology, which claimed that petrol sold at certain retail outlets in the state contained between 26 and 31 per cent ethanol.

The Oil Marketing Companies said that tests conducted on 893 samples collected from 27 States and Union Territories, including 56 samples from Karnataka, found that all the samples met the prescribed specifications.