State‑run oil marketing companies—Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum—announced on 8 August 2026 that a fresh round of testing across the country found no sign of the alleged moisture or chloride contamination in E20 petrol.
The tests covered the whole supply chain, from refineries and distilleries to depots and retail pumps. More than 100 samples from refineries showed chloride levels at or below 1 part per million (ppm). Distillery samples from 80 plants were under 3 ppm.
Depot and terminal checks also stayed below 3 ppm, while 160 retail samples recorded 0‑3 ppm chloride, far lower than the hundreds of ppm claimed by some media reports. Only two isolated cases had higher levels, and the supplies were paused for root‑cause analysis before being restored.
The companies said they inspect about 90,000 retail outlets, checking for water ingress 8‑12 times a day. No water ingress has been found so far.
Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said the concerns were a “controversy” and that intensified testing began two weeks before a July 28 letter raised the issue. He noted only four out of 107,000 pumps had issues.
All test results are posted on the Centre for High Technology website and will be updated as new data comes in. Consumers can continue to use E20 petrol with confidence, as the fuel meets all prescribed quality standards.