Can both E10, E20 petrol be sold at fuel stations? Centre to take call

“One of the options being explored is can we have E10 fuel for the older vehicles, which is what is being pursued right now. What are the challenges related to the supply, can we handle another grade of MS (motor spirit, or petrol) simultaneously? Yes, those challenges are there and they are being debated, they are being worked out right now. That is the reason why we don’t have any ready answer. But definitely, it was one of the options that was being pursued. In what form it would come, to what extent it would come, the details are being worked out at this juncture at different levels,” Khanna said in response to a question from The Indian Express.

On August 19, The Indian Express had reported quoting sources that early exploratory discussions within the government and the industry were underway on whether E10 petrol can also be retailed for older vehicles alongside the E20 fuel. Any decision on the matter is likely to be taken at the government level, and will be binding on all fuel retailers.

India achieved 20% ethanol blending in petrol last year, five years ahead of the original deadline. There has been opposition over the E20 fuel from various quarters, with claims ranging from notable reduction in mileage and engine component wear in older vehicles whose engines were not designed for higher ethanol blends.

On its part, the government has been attempting to allay fears, saying that the drop in mileage in older vehicles would be 3-5% at most, and would be outweighed by E20’s benefits as it is a superior fuel. It has also consistently rejected claims that E20 fuel could damage engine components. Questions have also been raised on why motorists aren’t being offered the choice of pure petrol, E10, and E20 fuels.

According to sources in the know, the discussions — described as preliminary — are being held on various technical as well as non-technical aspects of the country’s complex fuel retail supply chain. They said that the backlash from certain quarters against E20 and the lack of choice for consumers, specifically those with older vehicles — particularly two-wheelers — that were certified for E10 petrol, led to the initiation of these discussions.

In July, the government had said that offering multiple grades 0f base fuel across the country would create an “enormous logistical challenge”, apart from raising costs and reducing operational efficiencies in India’s complex fuel retail network. It also said that the current base fuel E20 is cleaner and superior than pure petrol and lower ethanol-petrol blends, has required massive investments, and reverting to a lower blend level wouldn’t be prudent on various counts. Petrol is the second most consumed petroleum fuel in India; about 43 million tonnes of petrol was consumed in the country in the last financial year.

Notably though, an opinion piece co-authored by Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran, which appeared in The Indian Express on August 18, called for lower ethanol-petrol blend, say E10, to also be available alongside E20 fuel. While the views expressed in the article were personal, this was the first instance of a high-ranking government official publicly calling for more petrol options.

“Restoring a lower blend at the pumps, say, E10, alongside the option to buy E20, would calm most public concern, lower total ethanol use instead of raising it, and protect the existing fleet while the retrofit programme catches up,” Nageswaran and Akash Poojari, a consultant in Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), wrote in the opinion piece.

While writing that social-media worries about engine damage “do not hold up”, Nageswaran and Poojari flagged concerns around millions of older two-wheelers that weren’t manufactured for E20 fuel.

According to auto industry insiders, only petrol vehicles manufactured and sold after April 2023 are considered fully E20-compliant. As per a senior oil industry official, making two base variants of petrol available simultaneously isn’t “simple and straightforward”, and would involve various complexities.

“It will be like introducing a new petrol variant altogether, that too in large volumes. Apart from the base fuel (E20), we do have two-three premium petrol variants, but their consumption is minuscule compared to the base petrol, so it is not too complicated to offer some volumes of such fuels along with E20. But if E10 is to be retailed in large volumes, it will require building an almost parallel supply chain as the existing one has shifted entirely to E20,” said the industry official, who didn’t wish to be identified.

Experts pointed out that most retail fuel outlets in India use single or dual underground tanks. Adding E10 alongside E20 would require replacing it with a dual tank system for petrol at thousands of petrol pumps, apart from equipping them with separate dispensers for the base fuel.

The oil marketing companies (OMCs) would also have to manage duplicate supply chains, right from the blending stage at their facilities to the point of retail, with separate road tankers transporting two different petrol grades at scale while ensuring there is no cross-contamination. Refineries and terminals would have to run two separate automated blending processes simultaneously — one tracking a 10% ethanol mix and another tracking a 20% mix.