Amid the row over E20 fuel, comprising 80% petrol and 20% ethanol, being the one commonplace petrol variant bought throughout the nation, early exploratory discussions throughout the authorities and the trade are underway on whether or not E10 petrol, which has 10% ethanol, can be retailed for older autos alongside the E20 gas, in accordance with sources conscious of the matter.
India achieved 20% ethanol mixing in petrol final yr, five years ahead of the original deadline. There was opposition to the E20 gas from varied quarters, with claims starting from notable discount in mileage and engine element put on in older autos whose engines weren’t designed for larger ethanol blends.
On its half, the federal government has been making an attempt to allay fears, saying the drop in mileage in older autos can be 3-5% at most, and can be outweighed by E20’s advantages as it’s a superior gas. It has additionally persistently rejected claims that E20 gas might harm engine elements.
Questions have additionally been raised on why motorists aren’t being provided the selection of pure petrol, E10 and E20 fuels. Some Opposition leaders have additionally raised questions over this lack of selection.
The discussions, described as “preliminary” and “conserving the older autos in thoughts”, are being held on varied technical in addition to non-technical points of the nation’s complicated gas retail provide chain, and no concrete conclusions have been arrived at but, sources indicated. They mentioned the backlash from sure quarters towards E20 and the dearth of selection for shoppers, particularly these with older autos, notably two-wheelers, that have been licensed for E10 petrol, led to the initiation of those discussions.
In July, the federal government had mentioned that providing a number of grades of base gas throughout the nation would create an “huge logistical problem”, aside from elevating prices and lowering operational efficiencies in India’s complicated gas retail community.
It additionally mentioned that the present base gas E20 is cleaner and superior than pure petrol and decrease ethanol-petrol blends, has required huge investments, and that reverting to a decrease mix degree is not going to be prudent on varied counts.
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Logistical problem
Retailing E10 and E20 petrol concurrently is a logistical problem. It would require a fancy, parallel provide chain, stretching from refineries to pumps. On account of restricted underneathfloor storage at petrol pumps, managing dual high-volume fuels will need huge infrastructure upgrades, making it unfeasible for the present community.
Petrol is the second most consumed petroleum gas in India – about 43 million tonnes of petrol was consumed within the nation in 2025-26.
However a rethink now seems to be on the desk. An opinion article co-authored by Chief Financial Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran, which appeared in The Indian Specific Monday, known as for decrease ethanol-petrol mix, say E10, to even be accessible alongside E20 gas. Whereas the views expressed within the article have been private, that is the primary occasion of a high-ranking authorities official publicly calling for extra petrol choices to be made accessible.
“Restoring a decrease mix on the pumps, say, E10, alongside the choice to purchase E20, would calm most public concern, decrease complete ethanol use as a substitute of elevating it, and shield the present fleet whereas the retrofit programme catches up,” Nageswaran and Akash Poojari, a advisor in Division of Financial Affairs (DEA), wrote of their article.
A request for remark despatched to the Ministry of Petroleum and Pure Gasoline (MoPNG) on the matter didn’t elicit a response.
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In accordance with auto trade insiders, petrol autos manufactured and bought after April 2023 are thought-about absolutely E20-compliant as this was mandated underneath the Bharat Stage 6 (BS6) part two emission norms. Which means that all autos at the moment being bought by producers are absolutely compliant with E20, however most autos that have been bought previous to 2023 aren’t. The permissible lifetime of a petroleum automobile within the Nationwide Capital Area (NCR) is 15 years, which signifies that automobiles manufactured in 2022 might be in use till 2037 underneath the present norms.
In accordance with a senior oil trade official, making two base variants of petrol accessible concurrently isn’t “easy and simple”, and would contain varied complexities.
“It is going to be like introducing a brand new petrol variant altogether, that too in massive volumes. Other than the bottom gas (E20), we do have two-three premium petrol variants, however their consumption is minuscule in comparison with the bottom petrol, so it’s not too sophisticated to supply some volumes of such fuels together with E20. But when E10 is to be retailed in massive volumes, it would require constructing an nearly parallel provide chain as the present one has shifted totally to E20,” the trade official mentioned.
Specialists identified that the majority retail gas retailers in India use single or twin underground tanks. Including E10 alongside E20 would require changing it with a twin tank system for petrol at 1000’s of petrol pumps, aside from equipping them with separate dispensers for the bottom gas.
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The oil advertising and marketing firms (OMCs) would additionally should handle duplicate provide chains, proper from the mixing stage at their services to the purpose of retail, with separate street tankers transporting two completely different petrol grades at scale whereas guaranteeing there isn’t a cross-contamination. Refineries and terminals must run two separate automated mixing processes concurrently – one monitoring a ten% ethanol combine and one other monitoring a 20% combine.
In an in depth incessantly requested questions (FAQs) word launched on July 10, the MoPNG had rejected the concept of providing a number of base petrol variants at gas stations. The ministry reiterated this view all through the recently-concluded Monsoon Session of Parliament whereas responding to questions from MPs.
“…if a cleaner, sooner and less-polluting gas is obtainable, why would we intentionally select an inferior various? The suggestion that each petrol pump ought to inventory pure petrol, E10 and E20 concurrently additionally ignores the realities of India’s gas distribution community. India operates over one lakh shops, supported by an intensive community of refineries, terminals, depots and pipelines. Sustaining a number of grades of base petrol throughout this huge provide chain would create an unlimited logistical problem, enhance dealing with prices, complicate stock administration and cut back operational effectivity,” the MoPNG had mentioned in its FAQ word.
