Maruti Suzuki, Tata, Mahindra shared E20 anxieties in private emails before making U-turn

Just hours after the Indian government made public assurances last week that its ethanol-blended petrol was safe for vehicles, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) withdrew a complaint about fuel contamination it had sent to the government a week earlier. The apex automobile industry governing body said some figures needed more checks. Now, Reuters has reported that major automakers like Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors and Mahindra also discussed their concerns about contamination of petrol blended with 20% ethanol, commonly known as E20. Interestingly, Maruti Suzuki, Tata and Mahindra combined account for 67% of India's passenger vehicle market.

The report claimed that in separate communications between industry executives, these carmakers discussed their concerns about the E20 fuel's impact. This has revealed for the first time how the automakers are privately worried about the contaminants in E20 petrol, like chloride and moisture, which they say are hurting the vehicles, even though they publicly backed the government's rollout of the fuel, which has been on sale as standard petrol across the country since April.

This comes at a time when the consumer groups have vigorously shown their concerns about the impact of E20 on vehicle performance. The E20 petrol has angered many motorists, with hundreds alleging it has reduced fuel economy and increased wear and tear on their cars.

SIAM withdrew its July 28 letter on fuel contamination after a government and public uproar over the warning, saying that some numbers need authentication. However, the Reuters report has stated that multiple automakers had already conducted extensive tests by collecting over 250 fuel samples from fuel stations over a year from as many as 21 of India's 36 states and Union Territories. These tests found high chloride contamination in many of the samples in 18 states, as well as high moisture content. Also, the emails from industry executives didn't raise any concern about data authentication.

Auto industry flagged chloride concerns to government

SIAM had earlier said high levels of chloride are corrosive for auto parts, while high moisture levels in fuel can immobilise a vehicle immediately after fuelling. In the emails exchanged among Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, Mahindra and SIAM, Maruti Suzuki's senior executive Anoop Bhat reportedly raised concerns on the high chloride findings, saying this had been privately discussed with the petroleum ministry on July 26. Bhat reportedly wrote in his July 26 email that 1 ppm of chloride was the maximum that current fuel injectors, which transport fuel to the engine, can tolerate. "Lesser than 1 ppm in E20 is also in line with international standards. Same is in line with discussion held with" the petroleum ministry, Reuters quoted Bhat writing.

Mahindra's senior principal engineer of fluids technology, R Ramaprabhu, reportedly said in emails that organic chloride is the contaminant responsible for the very rapid vehicle failures the industry is seeing and can spoil engines within 200 km. "Majority cases reported immediately after fuelling ... is due to organic chloride," he reportedly wrote, adding that Mahindra has strong evidence of fuel sample data from retail outlets.

The report stated that the tabulated state-wide findings shared by the industry on group emails showed they recorded chloride levels of 6 to 570 parts per million (ppm) in Rajasthan, 1.4 to 420 ppm in New Delhi and 10 to 357 ppm in Maharashtra, while the Indian government says the permissible limit is 3 ppm. The data tables also showed moisture levels reaching 13,000 ppm in Andhra Pradesh and 12,500 ppm in Uttar Pradesh, versus a permissible government benchmark of 3,000 ppm.

While the reason for contamination is not known, SIAM said in its now-withdrawn letter it had seen an increase in chloride levels since the rollout of E20 and has requested the government to direct oil marketing companies to find the root cause. For moisture, the SIAM letter noted, the cause could be inadequate maintenance of the underground storage tanks and pipelines at retail outlets.

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