Chief Economic Advisor calls for E10 fuel option for older vehicles, E20 for newer ones

Amid the ongoing debate over alleged engine damage and drop in mileage due to the use of E20, especially in older vehicles, and the government’s defence of the fuel blend, the Chief Economic Advisor to the Centre, V Anantha Nageswaran, has argued that a lower blend like E10 should be made available for older vehicles and E20 be continued for the newer ones.

Nageswaran in an op-ed co-authored with Akash Poojari in the Indian Express argued that although the social media claims of engine damage do not hold water when juxtaposed with the results elaborate testing on the effect of E20 on engines both in the US and India, but it remains a fact that India has about 75 to 80 million older two-wheelers which tend to suffer mechanical problems due to compatibility issues when operated with the fuel blend.

‘E20 testing finds no engine damage’

“The US, one of the global leaders in ethanol blending, had the Oakridge National Laboratory run 86 vehicles for a cumulative total of nearly 10 million kilometres on blends up to E20 and found no increased wear in cars not rated for E20. India’s own testing by ARAI, the petroleum institute, and Indian Oil reached the same conclusion. Thus, social-media worries about engine damage do not hold up,” stated the article.

Also Read: Automakers flagged E20 fuel contamination concerns for years: Tahseen Poonawalla

“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. Retrofitting those seals with ethanol-compatible ones is cheap. Still, it happens one vehicle at a time, and covering 75 to 80 million two-wheelers that way will take years, even if every workshop starts today,” it added.

Nageswaran seeks E10 at pumps

Elaborating further, Nageswaran said the mechanical issue was anticipated in the original E20 roadmap and that availability of a lower blend like E10 at petrol pumps was requested. However, he said the lower blend somehow ceased to be available at petrol pumps, and its availability should be restored.

Also Read: ‘Contamination, not E20, is the real problem; govt must fix it first’

“The original roadmap anticipated this and requested that a lower-blend fuel remain on sale for these vehicles, but that fuel quietly vanished from the pumps and needs to return. 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,” stated the article.

Ethanol and India's import burden

It also focused on India’s import expenditure on crude oil and edible oil, pointing out that the former is far more daunting than the latter. It further argued that the Centre is in a much better position in resolving the edible oil import issue and is aiming to domestically produce 72 per cent of its requirement, a significant increase from the current domestic production of about 40 per cent.

Also Read: E20 fuel cuts emissions but trims mileage by 2-6 pc, Gadkari tells Lok Sabha

“The feedstock has shifted, and that turns a distant trade-off into a direct one. Maize now supplies about half of India’s ethanol, and grains together nearly 67 per cent. Maize competes with soybean, groundnut and mustard for the same fields. Two forces pull land towards it. First, ethanol from maize is procured at a fixed price well above the sugarcane route, which keeps the crop attractive, whatever the market says,” it added.