Thiruvananthapuram | The Keralam Civil Supplies Department will extend inspections to petrol pumps in other districts if irregularities are detected in the initial phase of checks to determine whether petrol contains ethanol beyond the permitted limit, official sources said here on Tuesday.

The department has already collected petrol samples from nine outlets in four districts as part of the statewide inspection drive.

The checks were in Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam, Kozhikode and Kannur on Monday.

Food and Civil Supplies Minister Anoop Jacob has said the inspections were aimed at ensuring the supply of quality fuel to consumers and preventing adulteration and other irregularities.

He said legal action would be taken if tests found ethanol content beyond the permitted limit.

The samples collected from the nine outlets will be sent to authorised laboratories to check whether the ethanol content is within the prescribed limit and whether the fuel meets quality standards.

The results are expected within 10 days.

There have been no confirmed cases of excess ethanol blending in petrol in Keralam so far.

The inspections are being carried out as a precautionary measure following reports of such irregularities at some petrol pumps in Karnataka.

The department collected samples from three outlets in Ernakulam and two each in Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode and Kannur.

Oil company representatives and sales managers of the respective outlets were present during the sampling.