Govt denies fuel quality issues, says additional checks introduced

NEW DELHI: Dismissing reports of fuel quality issues at outlets, govt Tuesday said additional checks have been introduced by oil marketing companies (OMCs) to detect fuel contamination and adulteration. In a post on X, the petroleum ministry said OMCs were regularly monitoring fuel quality, water ingress and contamination, and that only two cases of chloride contamination had been detected so far.

"In addition to the advanced and elaborate testing protocols already in place, further checks have been instituted, including water ingress testing 8-12 times a day at over 87,000 outlets. Over 2,000 samples have also been tested for chloride/sulphide. Only two cases of chloride contamination have been found in the entire country till now, and sales from those pumps were suspended immediately," ministry said. It added that oil companies had been instructed to take proactive steps to detect any possible contamination across the fuel supply chain, and strict action would be taken if contamination or adulteration was found at any retail outlet.

Through a series of infographics on X, ministry said there was "zero compromise" on quality benchmarks and that 302 tankers carrying 10,500 kilolitres of ethanol were rejected between July 2024 and June 2026 for failing quality standards. It added that ethanol used for blending must comply with BIS IS 15464, have a minimum purity of 99.6% and be accompanied by a certified quality report. The ministry said ethanol is stored in dedicated facilities to prevent contamination, its quality is monitored regularly to ensure consistency and every tanker is sampled from both the top and bottom before being accepted.

Separately, govt has so far approved Rs 4,687 crore as interest subsidy for eligible ethanol projects under its various support schemes, minister of state for petroleum Suresh Gopi told Parliament Monday. Under the schemes, govt bears an interest subvention of 6% or 50% of the interest rate charged by lenders, whichever is lower, for five years on loans taken to set up new distilleries or expand existing ethanol production capacity.