No significant impact on fuel efficiency of vehicles on account of higher blend of ethanol, say OMCs and carmakers

There is no significant impact on fuel efficiency of vehicles on account of a higher blend of ethanol in fuel, representatives of oil marketing companies and automakers said Saturday, amid rising concern among some consumers about the adverse impact of the mix on mileage.

The government had mandated all vehicles manufactured to be E20 (blended fuel with 20% ethanol and 80% petrol) material compliant April 2023 onwards and fully E20 compliant from April 2025.

Refuting reports on the potential negative impact of the E20 blended petrol on such vehicles, Prashant K Banerjee, Executive Director at industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) said, “There have been no reports of any vehicles breaking down due to usage of E20 fuel. There is no adverse effect on vehicle engines. All OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) will honour warranties even of older vehicles in case there is an issue.”

Vikram Gulati, Executive Vice-President at Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) said, the concerns on E20 affecting fuel efficiency drastically or impacting adversely vehicle engines “are largely unfounded and not supported by scientific evidence or expert analysis”.

Material compatibility and drivability tests by the Automotive Research Association of India, Indian Institute of Petroleum and Indian Oil Corporation also have confirmed that legacy vehicles showed no significant variations, performance issues or abnormal wear-and-tear when operated with E20, industry stakeholders said.

P S Ravi, Advisor, Federation of Indian Petroleum Industry (FIPI) admitted that ethanol, being lower in energy density than petrol, results in a marginal decrease in mileage, but blending ethanol in petrol helps reduce CO2 emissions, making it sustainable.

Referring to the environmental benefits, industry representative said ethanol is increasingly being produced from not only sugarcane but also from surplus rice, maize, damaged food grains and agricultural residues, especially under the push for second-generation (2G) biofuels. “This makes ethanol blending not only technically viable, but environmentally sustainable as well,” Reji Mathai, Director at Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI).

A study on lifecycle emissions of ethanol done by the Niti Aayog has found that GHG emissions in case of sugarcane- and maize-based ethanol is less by 65% and 50%, respectively, than that of petrol.

E20 blending also significantly strengthens India’s energy security by reducing dependence on crude oil imports and has resulted in savings of more than Rs 1.40 lakh crore in foreign exchange since 2014-15, they said. Ravi said ethanol blending also supports the rural economy, with payment of over Rs 40,000 crore made to farmers so far in 2025.

The implementation of E20 in India has followed a phased and widely consulted approach, involving coordination between ministries, vehicle manufacturers, fuel retailers, standards agencies. Thus, the narrative that ethanol blending in petrol is harming vehicles or causing undue hardship to consumers is not based on real facts and lacks technical foundation, they said.