Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri on Monday described reports of concerns over E20 fuel as a “misrepresentation”, saying manufacturers had stated that there was “no difficulty” in switching.
“The car manufacturers, as well as the people who maintain these vehicles, say there is no difficulty. Why this sudden interest?” Puri said, according to ANI
He added: “It is a distortion and I do not want to use stronger words.”
Puri noted that India is gradually working to increase ethanol blending, adding that automakers have made statements emphasizing their “comfort” with the fuel and that consumers “appreciate” the product.
“We have been using E15 for the past three-and-a-half years. We have been on E20 since April last year. From April 2025 to April 2026, it has already been one year, and now we are five more months after that,” ANI quoted Puri as saying. This comes at a time when the Aam Aadmi Party has intensified its attack on the Center regarding fuel, with the party’s national coordinator Arvind Kejriwal saying that it will seek written assurances from three major automakers on the same. Kejriwal named Maruti Suzuki, Toyota Kirloskar and Hero MotoCorp, alleging that their public statements contradict the guidelines contained in their vehicle manuals.
“I’ll tell them your owner’s manual says one thing, but you say another. Tell them in writing that if your car’s mileage drops by more than 10 percent, will you reimburse the customer,” Kejriwal said.
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“There is no case where any car has problems due to E20”: Gadkari
Meanwhile, Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari wondered whether a single vehicle had faced problems due to mixed fuel. “There is no instance where any car has faced problems due to E20 petrol. Has there been any car in the country that has faced problems due to the use of E20 petrol? Just name one,” Gadkari said. The ministers’ statements and industry clarifications came after concerns over E20 petrol gained momentum on social media and in political circles.
Among those who raised concerns was YouTuber and Jan Suraj Party activist Manish Kashyap from Pohar, who claimed in a video that his car developed engine-related problems after running on E20 petrol. However, the car manufacturer, Toyota, denied this claim, without mentioning its name, saying that the problem is generally due to contaminated fuel.
Puri says E25 will be launched only after tests
Puri said the government was not in a rush to take a decision on E25, adding that tests on blended fuels were underway. “…We have made it clear that we are conducting tests. These tests will take some time. Once the reports are available, we will evaluate them,” Puri said, according to ANI. He said the reports would also be discussed with stakeholders and car manufacturers. “In the end, I neither manufacture cars nor fuel,” the minister said.
Gadkari had earlier said that “false narratives” were being spread about the introduction of higher ethanol-blended petrol, claiming that these were “paid campaigns”.
