Amid concerns over lower mileage and potential wear on older engines due to petrol blended with 20 per cent ethanol (E20), the government on Friday said petrol would have cost much more during the West Asia crisis if ethanol hadn’t been blended. According to the government, ethanol blending has not only reduced the country’s dependence on oil imports, but has also played a major role in providing relief to the common man from high petrol prices.
The government said that during the Middle East crisis, when crude oil prices reached around USD 135 per barrel, petrol prices in India could have reached around Rs 125 per litre. However, due to the ethanol blending policy, crude oil availability, and oil companies’ procurement strategies, petrol was available to consumers at around Rs 94.77 per litre.
“Instead, consumers paid Rs 94.77 per litre because 20 per cent of every litre was domestically produced ethanol, procured at stable, pre-agreed prices that were insulated from the global crude price spike…
The result? Nearly Rs 30 per litre in savings at the pump during the peak of the crisis,” the government said in a release.
Real value of ethanol blending
The government reiterated that ethanol blending is not about providing the cheapest fuel every day; instead, it is about protecting Indian consumers from extreme volatility in global oil markets, strengthening India’s energy security, and keeping more of the country’s fuel bill within the Indian economy rather than sending it overseas.
Does E20 fuel harm the engine?
The government has also clarified that claims that E20 petrol causes damage to the engines of old or new vehicles have not been substantiated. Extensive testing was conducted with ARAI, SIAM, Indian Oil, and vehicle manufacturers prior to the implementation of E20. These tests found no evidence of any major negative impact on engine capacity, performance, or parts.
However, in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari stated that some rubber parts and gaskets may need to be replaced in vehicles complying with BS-III standards, which came into effect on April 1, 2005, and were manufactured before 2016.
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