The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) late on Tuesday (August 4, 2026) withdrew its earlier letter to the government that had flagged concerns about vehicular parts experiencing either corrosion or wear due to the high chloride presence in E20 fuel, saying the data would require further authentication.
In its latest statement, the auto industry body said that the concerns it had earlier raised had since been addressed.
A draft of the earlier letter to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) accessed by The Hindu stated, “SIAM members are observing huge increase in the issues in customer vehicle parts and replacement (like fuel injectors, fuel pump, exhaust gas recirculation valve, exhaust and other parts that are in direct contact with fuel or engine emission gases).”
The letter goes on to state that “investigations of field failure vehicle parts reveal the failure is due to corrosion or wear caused by high chloride presence which is traced to the fuel used,” adding that deposits in failed parts also showed the presence of chlorides.
However, in a social media past midnight on Monday (August 3, 2026), SIAM clarified that the data it had cited required further authentication through the “collection of elaborate data from various regions across the country followed by a comprehensive consultation with our member OEMs”. SIAM did not, however, mention why it had included unauthenticated data in its letter to MoPNG.
Chloride contamination has the potential to corrode and permanently damage engine parts and other vehicular parts either immediately or over a period depending on the contamination level.
Reacting to the automobile manufacturers’ previous letter, Tehseen Poonawalla, founder of citizens’ advocacy collective Team Bharat, said that it contradicted Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari’s ongoing assertions about there being no vehicular damage because of the blended fuel.
“A direct side-by-side technical evaluation of both documents exposes alarming contradictions that severely undermine the technical authority of the auto industry’s premier apex body, giving the distinct impression of an institutional retreat under administrative duress of Nitin Gadkari ji as he had made tall claims,” Mr. Poonawalla said.
“The Union Transport Minister lied to the country. He has recurrently challenged to get him one vehicle that has been damaged because of the blended fuel. Now, SIAM’s own letter says several vehicles have been damaged, and have had an uptick because of the same,” he added.
“The sudden shift from urgently demanding regulatory safeguards to publicly declaring that ‘all of these steps fully meet the needs of the automobile industry’ raises serious questions. “It indicates that SIAM has chosen to walk back its own technical findings to shield higher administrative directives, leaving vehicle owners to absorb the mechanical and financial fallout of unaddressed fuel quality issues.”
Mr. Poonawalla also called for accountability from OEMs, emphasising that they must now be “transparent with citizens”, and also urged the Petroleum Ministry to scout ways to control the chloride contamination.
Chloride-contamination addressed
The automakers body had stated in its previous letter that it had come across chloride contamination of as much as 500 milligrams for every kilogram (mg/kg) in the fuel samples it acquired from the vehicular tanks it inspected. It specified that fuel chloride contamination was among the reasons it observed whilst analysing engine oils of failed vehicles.
SIAM had also argued that the increase in chloride-related issues has been observed “specifically after the E20 implementation and very few prior to that”.
The automakers’ body had also asked the government to include chloride limits in fuel specifications and implement quality controls to avoid such instances of “chloride-related failures” in vehicles.
However, whilst withdrawing the letter, SIAM sought to assure the existing measures being taken meet the requirements of the automobile industry. It said that that MoPNG had instituted 3 ppm (parts per million) guidelines for chloride/sulphur limits as a precautionary measure for all ethanol being blended into the petrol supply chain.
Observed high level of moisture
SIAM in the now-withdrawn letter had also observed issues relating to “excess moisture” in the ethanol blended fuel.
In its statement withdrawing the letter, however, it emphasised that oil-marketing companies have instituted necessary checks, including water ingress testing about 8-12 times a day in over 87,000 outlets and after each spell of rain near petrol pumps.
The clarification came after the automobile manufacturers’ body had stated that high moisture content — of more than 1% in fuels — caused separation of the fuel and damaged the vehicle immediately after fuelling.
“Even though the moisture level permitted in the E20 fuel is 3000 mg/kg, we have observed values even beyond 10,000 mg/kg level [1%] in many cases,” it had stated.
It had called for “inspection and periodic audit of those retail outlets which are very old and prone for water contamination to be conducted by OMCs to avoid moisture or water seepage or contamination in E20 fuel.”
Published – August 05, 2026 12:15 pm IST
