Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has accused a “petroleum lobby” of spreading disinformation about blending 20 per cent ethanol with petrol being corrosive to engines, calling the claims “completely false”.
Dismissing claims that many vehicles are not E20 compatible, Gadkari, in an interview with Moneycontrol, said that the authorities have verified everything on ground.
“This is completely false. We have done trials on old cars. In Brazil… they do 27 per cent blending but there have been no complaints. There are some people in the petroleum lobby who are spreading this…we have verified everything on technical grounds,” he was quoted as saying by the news publication.
India achieved its target of 20 per cent ethanol blending with petrol five years ahead of schedule, the Indian Sugar & Bio-energy Manufacturers Association (ISMA) said in July. However, some media reports and consumers have raised questions on the efficiency of the fuel, which has been claimed to corrode engines and reduce mileage.
Experts have also flagged concerns that 20 per cent ethanol blending with petrol has an impact on the overall performance of vehicles. Service centres have further claimed that non-E20-compliant vehicles, which still make up for a large chunk of cars on Indian roads, are facing more frequent engine wear and gasket failures.
Concerns have also been raised that the E20 blending programme risks diversion of food crops towards fuel since India largely produces its ethanol from sugarcane molasses.
Nitin Gadkari dismissed such allegations and called ethanol a “very good, clean fuel”.
“It pushes the rural economy, helps farmers and reduces import bill on oil. Our policy is import substitution, pollution free and cost effective. Shouldn’t people improve their health?” he said in the interview.
The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, earlier this month, junked recent claims circulating on social media that E20 petrol, petrol blended with 20 per cent ethanol, causes a drastic drop in fuel efficiency.
In a detailed statement, the ministry said such allegations are factually incorrect and not backed by scientific analysis or expert opinion.
The ministry clarified that while ethanol has lower energy density than petrol, the impact on fuel efficiency is only marginal.