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With the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas mandating 20 per cent ethanol blending in petrol, referred to as E20 petrol, consumers have expressed concerns over incompatible engine parts and reduced mileage if they start using this fuel for their vehicles. However, two variants of ethanol free petrol (E0) are still available in the market: Indian Oil’s XP100 and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited’s poWer100.
XP100 is available at three petrol pumps in Pune: Bharat Service Centre on Solapur Road Bhairoba Nala, Sukhwani Petroleum in Wakad, and Uday Fuel Services in Punawale.
These premium petrol variants are available at rates of over Rs 160 per litre, making them quite expensive as compared to regular petrol available at around Rs 103 per litre.
Vehicles older than 2023 in India could see rubber and metal parts of the engine corrode quicker due to the higher ethanol content. Reduction in mileage due to the lower petrol cost could also mean more spending on fuel. Consumers have also expressed outrage over the fact that the cost benefit of blending a higher percentage of ethanol has not been passed on to them, meaning that the cost of petrol has not come down even though ethanol is cheaper than petrol.
An analysis by The Indian Express earlier this month showed that manuals of cars such as Hyundai Grand i10 Nios and and i20 sold before till late 2023 and Mahindra Thar 4WD explicitly mention that petrol containing more than 10 per cent ethanol should not be used in the vehicle.
Vishal Shah, an IT consultant in Pune, noticed a reduction in mileage in his 2020 Hyundai Venue. He said, “With e20 petrol, the performance of my car has deteriorated. The fuel efficiency has gone down by about 12 per cent in bumper-to-bumper traffic and in general by 6-7 per cent. The pickup is also relatively sluggish even with a turbo engine. I am also worried about the long term damage it may cause to the engine.”
Dhruv Ruparel, president of Petrol Dealers Association Pune and owner of Bharat Service Centre, told The Indian Express that there has been an increase in enquiries regarding non-ethanol fuel in recent times. “However, this has not resulted in higher sales, as the price of the premium petrol is quite high. It is mostly premium car or bike owners, who buy the premium petrol,” he said.
A press release by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas issued this month attempted to alleviate fears over ethanol blending. “The use of E-20 gives better acceleration, better ride quality and most importantly, lowered carbon emissions by approximately 30 per cent as compared to E10 fuel. Ethanol’s higher-octane number (~108.5 compared to petrol 84.4) makes ethanol-blended fuels a valuable alternative for higher-octane requirements that is crucial for modern high-compression engines.”
The press release also said suggestions of ‘drastic’ reduction in fuel efficiency were misplaced and owners who believed their vehicles required replacements of parts could reach out to service centres.
