E20 petrol row: Puri says only four contaminated samples found, Rahul Gandhi steps up attack

Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri on Friday defended India's E20 petrol rollout, saying the country's fuel retail network remained resilient despite recent global supply disruptions.

Speaking at the CII International Energy Conference & Exhibition, Puri also addressed concerns over the quality of ethanol-blended petrol following a July 28 letter from an industry body. He said oil marketing companies had already started intensive testing two weeks before the concerns were raised.

According to Puri, dedicated teams collected nearly 2,000 petrol samples every day from fuel stations across the country. Of the 107,000 retail outlets operating in India, which serve around six to seven crore customers daily, testing found only four cases of contamination. Puri said some parties were presenting these findings without the full context.

India's fuel retail network has more than doubled since 2014, when the country had around 52,000 outlets. Puri said the network now has roughly 107,000 outlets and none had run out of fuel despite pressure on global supplies.

Puri highlights India's fuel resilience

Puri attributed the stability to diversified crude oil sourcing, resilient infrastructure, international partnerships, technology upgrades and strategic reserves. India currently has around 74 days of reserve capacity, he said.

He also highlighted India's growing position in the global energy market. India is now the world's third largest energy consumer and importer and the fourth largest refiner. Its energy demand is growing at around three times the global average.

Citing the International Energy Agency, Puri said India could account for nearly 30% of the increase in global oil demand between now and 2050.

The remarks came as the nationwide rollout of petrol blended with 20% ethanol continues to face political and consumer criticism. The policy aims to reduce crude oil imports and emissions, but critics have raised concerns over lower mileage, compatibility with older vehicles and limited choice for consumers at fuel stations.

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Rahul Gandhi steps up E20 attack

Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Friday intensified his criticism of the government's E20 fuel policy.

In a video message posted on X, Gandhi used the Hindi idiom "daal mein kuch kaala hai" to suggest that something was suspicious about the system surrounding the fuel shift. He also explained why the Opposition had not raised every alleged wrongdoing at the same time.

Gandhi said political campaigns require "sequencing" because the number of issues and alleged corruption cases was too large to address simultaneously.

"This is a matter of sequencing. In any campaign, we have to decide the sequence of affairs. Our problem right now is that there is so much corruption that there is a huge list of issues that we have to sequence," Gandhi said.

He said the E20 policy would receive greater attention from the Opposition and alleged that higher ethanol blending was damaging vehicles and increasing financial pressure on people.

"Don't worry, we are going to take up this issue in a massive way because this is destroying people's cars, destroying people's scooters, destroying people's lives and literally stealing directly from them," he said.