'Paid political campaign against me': Nitin Gadkari over online furore on E20 fuel

Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Thursday claimed that a "paid political campaign" was being carried out against him on social media amid netizens' pushback against the government's rollout of ethanol-blended fuel. 

He was replying to a question on the spate of social media posts, wherein consumers were complaining about reduced mileage and damage to the engines of older vehicles due to E20 fuel. 

He added that the online campaign against him has been proven false.  The Union Minister asserted that the E20 fuel is safe and backed by regulators as well as automobile regulators.

"ARAI and the Supreme Court have given clarity on the E20 programme. There was a campaign on social media to target me politically. It was a paid campaign against me, so I don't pay attention to it," he said.

Previously, Gadkari blamed the "petrol lobby" and other "interests" for being behind the social media posts and stories against ethanol blending. 

"Everywhere there are lobbies, there are interests... petrol lobby is very rich," he said. The Minister explained that ethanol was produced from sugarcane, broken rice and other agricultural products and is expected to help reduce India's dependence on foreign oil. 

He added that India is spending ₹22 lakh crore for importing fossil fuels, which are also leading to "problems of pollution" across cities. At present, India is the world's third-largest oil consumer and imports around 88 per cent of its crude oil requirements, making it vulnerable to geopolitical challenges that can impact crude prices. 

The minister said that Indian companies are manufacturing electric cars, buses, and trucks since they are cost-effective. He stated that the manufacturing capacity of electric buses in India was 50,000-60,000 per year, but the country's requirement is 1,00,000 buses per year.

At the Business Today India@100 Summit, Gadkari challenged the critics to "show a single instance" of a car being damaged due to E20 fuel, adding the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) and SIAM have not flagged any confirmed case.