E20 Petrol: Fact, fuel or fiction?

The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas on July 10 released a set of Frequently Asked Questions to address "misconceptions" around the Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme, days after automobile manufacturers issued their own clarifications on the issue.

The ministry said the FAQs were necessary because "certain questions continue to persist" despite an earlier press release.Q1: Why did India appear to rush its ethanol blending targets when countries like Brazil took decades?The ministry said the comparison does not hold up, pointing to a two-decade history starting with a pilot in 2001 and a policy notified in the Gazette of India in January 2013.

Blending stayed stuck at around 1.5 percent till 2014 because supply depended largely on sugarcane, it said.

Also read: E10 vs E20 Petrol Explained: Is India's ethanol-blended fuel safe for your vehicle?The National Policy on Biofuels in 2018 changed this by building a wider ecosystem across ministries, while a 2021 push by IOCL, BPCL and HPCL for Dedicated Ethanol Plants, backed by long-term purchase agreements, expanded capacity.

Blending rose from about 8.1 percent in ESY 2020-21 to 20 percent by ESY 2025-26, the ministry said, adding that India "compressed the implementation timeline not by compromising science or safety but by improving governance, planning and execution."Q2: Why don't consumers have the choice of pure petrol, E10 or E20?

What about older vehicles labelled only E10 compatible?The ministry said automakers were consulted from as early as 2020-21, and India met its E10 target in June 2022, five months ahead of schedule.

For E20, the IMC roadmap since 2021 examined material compatibility, engine calibration and durability.

It cited Maruti Suzuki servicing 2.84 crore vehicles in FY 2025-26, including 1.5 crore older, non-E20-certified vehicles, with no corrosion or component damage reported, and said Hero MotoCorp reported similar experience.

While acknowledging a possible 3-5 percent dip in fuel economy in some vehicles, the ministry said E20 offers a higher octane rating and cleaner combustion, cutting lifecycle carbon emissions by about 40 percent.

On why pumps don't stock all three variants, it cited the scale of India's network of over one lakh outlets and the logistical cost of running parallel fuel streams, adding that reverting to E10 would jeopardise nearly Rs 1 lakh crore a year in bank-financed ethanol investments.Q3: If ethanol is blended with petrol, why isn't E20 cheaper than E10 or pure petrol?The ministry said ethanol prices are fixed to ensure fair returns to farmers, with maize-based ethanol procured at around Rs 71.86 per litre before GST and transport costs.

At crude around $70 a barrel, E20 costs more to produce than pure petrol, though the economics reverse once crude crosses $120-130 a barrel, it said.

Nearly 20 percent of every litre of petrol sold in India is now ethanol priced independent of Brent crude volatility, which the ministry said helped keep India's fuel price rise among the lowest globally, citing a 5.58 percent rise in Delhi petrol prices between June 2022 and June 2026 against much steeper hikes in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh and parts of Europe.

The EBP Programme has saved over Rs 1.97 lakh crore in forex, cut around 952 lakh metric tonnes of CO2 emissions and transferred more than Rs 1.66 lakh crore to farmers since ESY 2014-15, it said.Q4: Does E20 damage rubber components and affect engines in older vehicles, given manuals mention "E10 compatible"?The ministry attributed recurring rumours about rubber hoses, engine seizures and tank corrosion to "lobbies with vested interests," saying none of the claims "stand the test of scientific evidence." Also read: Insects in your fuel tank?

ISMA responds to claims of E20-led car damage & sugarcane mixing claimsIt said expert committees involving automakers, ARAI, SIAM and oil companies were constituted before the roadmap was finalised, and E20-equivalent blends underwent over 40,000 kilometres of testing before rollout.

On manuals citing "E10 compatibility," the ministry said such labels reflect specifications at the time of homologation and don't mean a vehicle becomes unsafe once fuel standards evolve after further testing and approval.

It said the ethanol supply chain conforms to strict BIS specifications, with state chief secretaries told to enforce "zero tolerance" against adulteration.

"E20 is a safe, cleaner, proven and scientifically validated fuel that Indian consumers can use with confidence," the ministry said, advising against being misled by "misinformation, scaremongering or unverified content circulating on social media." ...