MUMBAI: India’s automobile industry stakeholders, including the oil marketing companies (OMCs) have refuted concerns about the alleged damaging effects of E20 petrol (a blend of 20% ethanol and 80% petrol) on older vehicles, reiterating that there have been no reports of vehicle damage due to this fuel and that any reduction in mileage is minimal, typically between 2% and 6%.
In a press conference held on Saturday, representatives from automobile manufacturing companies, OMCs and Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) presented benefits such as saving $4 billion in forex, improving farmers’ income (payment of Rs 40,000 crore in 2025) and reducing carbon emissions achieved by the blending program.
They stated that it is currently not possible to provide E10 petrol at fuel stations in India, as nearly all retail outlets have switched over to dispensing E20 petrol. India achieved 20% ethanol blending in petrol by March 2025, five years ahead of its original 2030 schedule.
The joint conference was held days before the Supreme Court agreed to hear a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging the government’s ethanol blending mandate on September 1, 2025. A bench led by Chief Justice of India BR Gavai, along with Justices K Vinod Chandran and NV Anjaria, will hear the matter.
Despite multiple assurances by the central government in recent times, there is a growing skepticism among consumers regarding the use of E20 petrol on their vehicles. Large number of vehicle owners have claimed experiencing a decline of up to 20% in fuel efficiency for their E5 and E10 petrol-compliant vehicles after they were forced to use E20 petrol.
The skepticism is added by the non-availability of the full study in public domain carried by the ARAI to ascertain the impact E20 blended petrol on non-E20 compliant vehicles. This study is often cited by the government to highlight limited impact of E20 petrol on older vehicles.
Auto industry lobbying body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) which in 2021 had raised concern on the reduction of fuel efficiency and said that non-availability of E10 fuel in parallel is a critical concern for the existing pool of vehicles said on Saturday that their demand is now not required.
“At that point in time when we requested, it was easy to implement and we did not had any scientific evidence as how the vehicle (non E20 certified vehicle) would behave with the E20 fuel. Now with the evidence of the testing done by the ARAI along with the OEMs and OMCs, the results indicated that our demand is not required,” said Prashant K Banerjee, Executive Director at SIAM.
Automakers have also moved from their previous stance where they recommended using E5 or E10 blended petrol on older vehicles and had said that usage of any fuel (other than recommended as per the Owner's Manual) will void warranty for the impacted parts. This has caused a big panic among vehicle owners as it has been reported that ethanol is hygroscopic (attracts water) and more corrosive than petrol, and over time, it can lead to increased wear of rubber and plastic components (like gaskets, seals, hoses).
Companies such as Renault and Toyota now say that there is no adverse impact from using the higher ethanol blend in E10-compliant vehicles. Siam on Saturday said that auto companies will honour the claims if any damage is caused on the vehicle by the E20 petrol.
