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
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 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.
The BriefWire