E20 fuel saves ₹1.97 lakh crore in forex; Govt rules out return to E10 petrol
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The Centre on Monday firmly ruled out any rollback of the E20 petrol programme, saying there is no proposal to reintroduce E0 or E10 fuel as the ethanol-blended petrol policy has been scientifically validated and has already delivered foreign exchange savings of more than ₹1.97 lakh crore.
Replying to separate questions in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Suresh Gopi said the Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme has been implemented in a phased and consultative manner with inputs from NITI Aayog, automobile manufacturers, Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs), the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) and other technical institutions.
The government said maintaining parallel supply chains for E0, E10 and E20 petrol across more than one lakh fuel retail outlets would significantly increase logistics complexity, inventory requirements and handling costs.
"The objective of public policy is to move forward with a superior fuel, not return to an inferior standard," the minister said.
Addressing concerns over lower fuel efficiency in older vehicles, the government said any reduction in mileage in vehicles designed for E10 fuel is generally limited to 3-5%.
It added that E20 offers higher octane, better anti-knock properties, cleaner combustion and smoother engine performance. According to the reply, E20 also results in around 30% lower carbon emissions than E10 and improves urban air quality through lower particulate emissions.
The ministry also dismissed concerns over engine damage, stating that more than 20 crore two-wheelers and over 3 crore petrol cars have been using higher ethanol blends for over two-and-a-half years without any verified evidence of widespread engine failures attributable to ethanol blending. It added that manufacturers continue to honour warranty obligations for vehicles using E20 fuel.
Highlighting the gains from the programme, the government said ethanol blending by public sector OMCs between Ethanol Supply Year (ESY) 2014-15 and ESY 2025-26 (up to June 2026) has resulted in foreign exchange savings exceeding ₹1.97 lakh crore, crude oil substitution of around 316 lakh metric tonnes and a reduction of about 952 lakh metric tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.
In a separate reply, the government said private ethanol distilleries supplied 717.29 crore litres of ethanol to public sector OMCs during ESY 2025-26 till June 30, up from 418.73 crore litres in ESY 2021-22. Supplies rose steadily over the years to 506.42 crore litres in ESY 2022-23, 679.01 crore litres in ESY 2023-24 and 1,040.09 crore litres in ESY 2024-25.
The government said it has taken several measures to boost domestic ethanol production capacity, including interest subvention schemes for sugar and grain-based distilleries, expansion of feedstock sources, an administered pricing mechanism for ethanol and long-term offtake agreements between OMCs and dedicated ethanol plants.