As India keeps emission-cutting biofuel ethanol more in its petrol, consumers complain that it damages their engines.
The government’s rapidly expanded ethanol program aims to cut expensive oil imports by mixing with petrol. A bio fuel derived from ethanol, agricultural produce or organic waste that burns more clean than traditional gasoline.
India hit its target of reaching 20% ethanol mixture in petrol last month, known as E20 petrol, five years before the schedule.
But car reviewers Amit Khare, who reaches 15 million people every month in social media platforms including YouTube, meta and Instagram, criticized fuel.
“Ethanol is a dry and corrosive fuel,” Khare told Thomson Reuters Foundation.
“It can damage many parts involved in the fuel supply to the engines,” he said. “Neither the government nor the petrol pumps in the country are informing users about all these issues … consumers are being kept in darkness.”
Thousands of concerned drivers shared their fear in the comments on a video posted on the issue later last month.
Consumers are seeking the right to choose what they put in their cars, filling social media with low fuel efficiency complaints, damage to old engines and upcoming expensive repairs.
Punjab-based car critic Sunderdeep Singh said that the government should make it mandatory for petrol stations to sell different mixtures and clearly color-codes.
“Most consumers do not know how mixed they are in the petrol they are buying,” they told Thomson Reuters Foundation.
The government said that concerns over E20 fuel on Monday were baseless. The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said that criticism lacked “technical foundation” and said that its report did not cause any major engine damage or performance loss.
The government admitted that the mileage could take a slight dive of up to 6% between 1% and 2% in new cars and in older people, but said that it could be managed with regular servicing.
Vehicle owners responded rapidly, shared mileage numbers online and accused the government of hiding the truth.
Khare said that he tested an E20-transport car for two months and saw a mileage decline between 5% to 6%.
Millions of cars and motorbikes sold before 2023 do not have publicly available data, the E20 suits fuel, but Khare estimates that most of them are not.
Bio fuel is an important part of the Governments of the Government of India for the cost of cutting greenhouse gas emissions and the cost of import of oil.
The policy, according to India’s data, saved India from about 1.06 trillion rupees ($ 12.09 billion) at import cost of crude oil between 2014 and 2024, and helped avoid 54.4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions in the same decade.
According to a calculator by the US Environmental Protection Agency, it is equal to emissions from about 12 million gasoline-managed cars.
But the profit comes with trade-off. India has increased ethanol production to make fuel to make fuel, by twisting crops such as sugarcane, maize and rice, reducing the availability of grains for people and cattle and transferring land away from food production.
India’s two largest motorcycles and scooter makers Hero MotoCorp and TVS Motor have also issued advice about ethanol and said that their vehicles before 2023 require amendment in the fuel system to efficiently drive their vehicles on E20.
Shell India warned customers that they risk engine damage or warranty loss from E20 fuel.
Bangalore-based car-owner Antony Mathew said, “When our cars are not ready, it is unfair to the government to push us to use high ethanol mixtures.”
“At least the government can charge more than 30% tax on a new petrol car, to ensure that the compatible fuel is available in the market.”
Published – August 07, 2025 09:38 am IST