NEW DELHI: The Centre on Friday ruled out offering pure petrol or lower ethanol-petrol blends alongside E20 fuel, saying maintaining multiple fuel grades nationwide would be impractical and significantly increase distribution costs.
The clarification comes amid calls from some quarters for consumers to be given the option of choosing 100% petrol or E10 fuel in addition to E20.
In a statement, the petroleum ministry said it would not be feasible for more than one lakh fuel retail outlets across the country to stock and dispense multiple grades such as pure petrol, E10 and E20. Maintaining parallel supply chains, it said, would complicate logistics and substantially raise distribution costs.
“Once a superior fuel has been scientifically validated, extensively tested and accepted by the automotive industry, the objective should be to move forward with confidence, not retreat to an inferior standard,” the ministry said.
The government said E20 fuel offers several technical advantages over lower blends, including a higher octane rating, better anti-knock properties, faster combustion, improved pickup, smoother acceleration and cleaner engine operation.
According to the ministry, the rollout of E20 followed multiple rounds of consultations with automobile manufacturers, technical experts, testing agencies and other stakeholders. It added that vehicle manufacturers would not have endorsed the fuel or continued to honour warranties had they not been satisfied with the test results.
India achieved its target of 20% ethanol blending in petrol in April 2025, and E20 is now the standard petrol grade sold across the country.
Rejecting suggestions to revert to E10, the ministry said the country has already invested heavily in dedicated ethanol production capacity, including distilleries, storage infrastructure and logistics networks, supported by bank financing of nearly Rs 1 lakh crore.
“What happens to the surplus production capacity? What happens to thousands of crores invested by farmers, cooperatives, entrepreneurs, financial institutions and public sector companies in good faith based on a national policy? Public policy must balance consumer interest with energy security, environmental sustainability, farmer welfare and prudent use of national resources,” it said.
Responding to questions on pricing, the ministry said ethanol is currently procured at around Rs 72 per litre to ensure remunerative returns for farmers, making E20 costlier to produce than pure petrol. However, it added that E20-blended petrol would become cheaper than conventional petrol if global crude oil prices rose to around $120-130 a barrel, as witnessed during the peak of the West Asia conflict.
The ministry also rejected concerns about E20’s impact on older vehicles. It cited data from Maruti Suzuki, which serviced about 1.5 crore older, non-E20-certified vehicles during 2025-26 and found no evidence of E20-related corrosion, abnormal wear or reduced component life. Hero MotoCorp reported similar findings from its field experience, it added.
“If E20 were genuinely damaging rubber components, fuel lines or engines, we would have witnessed lakhs of warranty claims, widespread component failures and an avalanche of complaints across the country,” the ministry said.
The government also dismissed concerns over vehicles originally labelled as “E10 compatible”, saying such vehicles do not become unsafe merely because fuel standards are upgraded following extensive scientific testing, engineering validation and regulatory approval.
