Fuel blending debate: No proposal to drop E20 petrol for E10, clarifies BPCL

A brief confusion surrounding India’s ethanol blending programme ended with Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) clarifying that there is no proposal to replace the existing E20 blended petrol with E10.

The clarification came shortly after BPCL Chairman and Managing Director Sanjay Khanna suggested that the company was assessing the feasibility of offering a lower-blend option for older vehicles, only to later clarify that his comments were misquoted. 

Speaking to reporters on August 27 following BPCL's AGM, Khanna initially indicated that the oil marketing company was looking into the operational aspects of providing E10 fuel as an option for older automobiles. "We are looking into various related aspects but nothing has been finalised yet," Khanna said.

He added that "one of the options being explored is whether we can have E10 fuel for older vehicles, which is what is being pursued right now." He maintained that there were no plans to completely replace E20 with E10. 

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However, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas officials reaffirmed that there are "absolutely no discussions in government on the matter".

BPCL later issued a clarification on X (formally twitter) saying, "His response is being misquoted to suggest as if E10 is being considered as an option, which is not correct." Khanna later reiterated, "I never said that E20 will be changed to E10," while acknowledging that the debate centered on whether older vehicles should have access to lower-blend variants. 

The controversy unfolds against the backdrop of an ongoing debate regarding the impact of E20 fuel, containing 20 percent ethanol, on non-BS-VI legacy vehicles, particularly older two-wheelers with carburettors and unrated rubber seals.

While Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran and consultant Akash Poojari recently authored an opinion piece advocating for a parallel supply of lower-blend fuels like E10 to protect existing fleets, the Petroleum Ministry has consistently maintained that maintaining parallel nationwide supply chains for multiple base-fuel grades presents insurmountable logistical hurdles across the country's network of over one lakh petrol pumps. 

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Addressing technical feasibility, Khanna noted that switching the overall supply chain from E20 to E10 would pose no operational challenges for oil marketing companies if policy dictated it. "It's only a matter of changing from E20 to E10, or suppose it has to be done. On that account, we don't see as a company any challenge for that matter," he said.

However, BPCL affirmed its continued commitment to the national ethanol blending program, emphasising that field experience from millions of vehicles over three years has shown no evidence of engine damage.