Here is what India's Chief Economic Advisor said on bringing back E10 petrol

India should bring back a petrol option with lower ethanol content, believes the country's Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran. He believes this will protect millions of older vehicles in the country. This comes as one of the strongest calls yet from a senior government official for greater consumer choice amid growing concerns over India's ethanol blending policy.

Nageswaran's comment comes at a time when India has made E20 petrol, containing 20% ethanol, the standard fuel across the country since April 1. With this move, since April 1 this year, E20 has become the only petrol variant available for sale at fuel stations across India. While the government has claimed this will reduce India's dependence on imported oil, support domestic agriculture and reduce vehicular emissions, many motorists across the country, especially the non-BS-VI vehicle owners, have claimed that due to the fuel, their vehicles have been facing reduced fuel efficiency and damage to critical components.

There have been demands for making multiple petrol options available at fuel stations, but the oil ministry has maintained that it is not feasible to build and maintain infrastructure to supply multiple grades of fuel. Meanwhile, Nageswaran, alongside Akash Poojari, who is a consultant in the Department of Economic Affairs, has said the evidence did not support widespread claims that E20 damages vehicle engines, but argued that the policy could pose problems for India's large fleet of older two-wheelers, reported PTI.

The report also stated that the government official said that dismissing complaints outright would be a mistake because beneath the noise lies a real problem and a much larger question. They said that India has roughly 75 to 80 million older two-wheelers that run on carburettors. A carburettor cannot sense the extra oxygen in the blend and adjust for it, so on E20, the engine draws in too little fuel for the air it draws in and runs hot. Further, older rubber seals that are not rated for ethanol are a separate problem, as they degrade on contact with the fuel regardless of engine temperature, they stated, while recommending restoration of a lower-blend fuel, such as E10, alongside E20 to protect older vehicles while allowing the government to continue its ethanol programme. They reportedly said that the government should protect the existing fleet while the retrofit programme catches up.

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