India should bring back fuel with lower blend of ethanol, chief economic adviser says

NEW DELHI: India should bring back a fuel variant with a lower blend of ethanol, according to a top government adviser, the first senior official to call for wider fuel options amid growing consumer anger against a contentious policy change.

E20 — petrol with 20% ethanol blended in it — was rolled out last year and since April 1, it has been the only fuel available for sale at gas stations across the country, part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plans to reduce oil imports and help curb pollution.

But the move has stoked widespread concerns about vehicular performance and damage to auto parts, with many car owners venting their frustrations on social media and calling on the government to make lower ethanol-blended fuel variants available.

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“Restoring a lower blend at the pumps, say, E10, alongside the option to buy E20, would calm most public concern,” India’s Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran said in an opinion piece in the Indian Express newspaper on Monday.

The piece was co-authored with Akash Poojari, a consultant in India’s Department of Economic Affairs. They noted that their views were personal. It is, however, rare for top Indian officials to disagree publicly with a government position.

A spokesperson for India’s oil ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters’ request for comment. The government said last month that there is no proposal to revert to lower blended petrol variants, such as E0 or E10.

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The opinion piece follows a Reuters report last week that top automakers privately discussed their concerns about E20 contamination, days before an industry lobby sent a letter of complaint to the government, which was later withdrawn.

The opinion piece said the evidence does not support fears of damage to engines, but there were concerns about other impacts of E20 on older vehicles.

“India has roughly 75 to 80 million older two-wheelers … older rubber seals that are not rated for ethanol are a separate problem … retrofitting those seals… that way will take years,” the opinion piece said.

New Delhi should “protect the existing fleet while the retrofit programme catches up,” it said.