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CBSE 2027 date sheet out: boards start 16 February, Class 10 ends 9 March, Class 12 on 9 April. All key dates
CBSE has released the 2027 date sheet 101 days ahead. Exams start on 16 February at 10.30 am. Class 10 Maths is on 17 February and Social Science on 8 March; Class 12 Physics is on day one and Biology on 25 March. Over 46 lakh students have registered.
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The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas on 7 November 2026 rejected a claim by the Karnataka government that petrol sold at certain retail outlets in the state contains between 26% and 31% ethanol, well above the 20% blend sold nationally. The ministry said that E20 supplied by the three public sector oil marketing companies meets the Bureau of Indian Standards specification, IS 17021, and that 893 samples taken across 27 States and Union Territories were found compliant, including all 56 from Karnataka.
The dispute touches every driver in the country, and it has grown into a test of whose numbers can be trusted. So far only one side's full account has been published in the official record available. Karnataka's own press release, from its Department of Food, Civil Supplies, Consumer Affairs and Legal Metrology, was not available at the time of writing, and its claims are set out here as the Centre describes them.
What each side says
Karnataka's reported position is that petrol at some outlets had 26% to 31% ethanol. It also estimated an annual consumer loss from lower mileage of about Rs 62,000 crore and vehicle repair costs of about Rs 39,000 crore, a total of about Rs 1.01 lakh crore.
The Centre and the three oil companies, Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum, make four arguments.
The sampling was wrong. The Motor Spirit and High Speed Diesel Control Order and the Marketing Discipline Guidelines 2024 require six one-litre samples to be drawn: two for the dealer, two retained and two sent to a specified laboratory, with labels jointly signed. The companies say a September exercise followed the route through their laboratories, but that samples in the October exercise were taken without their representatives, and that they have not received retention samples, outlet details or laboratory reports.
The laboratory and method are not shown. The findings, they say, rest on certificates from a third-party laboratory, not one specified under the Control Order. IS 17021 prescribes certain methods. If gas chromatography is used, the sample must first be diluted 1:1 and the result corrected against a reference material. The certificates simply say "Ethanol % by Gas Chromatography".
The density does not fit. The certificates show densities of 0.742 to 0.749 g/cc for samples said to have 26–31% ethanol. Tested E20 samples recorded 0.752–0.760 g/cc. Since ethanol is denser than petrol, more ethanol should ordinarily raise the density, not lower it. This is the most striking technical point, and if the figures are right, it needs an explanation.
Their own tests are clean. Under a Quality Coordination Cell exercise with the Centre for High Technology, 893 samples from IOCL (330), BPCL (280) and HPCL (283) were all within the 19–21% range. The 56 Karnataka samples recorded 19% to 20%, with an average of 19.30%.
The companies also argue that they have no commercial reason to over-blend, because each extra litre of ethanol adds to procurement cost. Blending is done through calibrated systems at refineries and depots, not by hand.
Why it matters
Ethanol blending is one of the government's largest energy policies. Over the 2025-26 supply year, which ended on 31 October 2026, the oil companies blended 1,134 crore litres against petrol sales of about 5,673 crore litres, which works out to almost exactly 20%. Since 2014-15, the ministry says, the programme has saved more than Rs 1.97 lakh crore in foreign exchange, replaced about 316 lakh tonnes of crude, cut about 952 lakh tonnes of carbon dioxide and paid more than Rs 1.66 lakh crore to farmers.
Those national figures do not settle what is in a particular tank, however. An average near 20% says nothing about one pump, and the Centre's 893 samples came from its own system. A state testing independently is entitled to do so, and consumers have long complained about mileage. Independent verification is therefore the only way this ends.
Sources
About the Author
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Prateek Rawat
Staff Writer
Prateek Rawat is a contributor to Wirony. All articles published under this byline undergo editorial review and approval before publication, with any necessary corrections handled…
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