53% NDA Voters Against E20, 50% Fear Vehicle Damage: C-Voter Survey

Roughly 53 per cent of people who voted for the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance do not want to use E20 — the government's contentious ethanol-petrol blend — in their vehicles, and around half of them believe the mixture both reduces fuel efficiency and damages the engine.

The numbers come from a C-Voter nationwide survey conducted on July 8 and 9. The sample size was 1,641 people aged 18 and above, and the data was weighted to the known demographic profile as per the Census and the final Election Commission of India results.

Respondents were asked 12 questions, ranging from support for the government's ethanol-petrol blending programme to its financial and oil policy implications, including whether ethanol blending would reduce India's dependence on imported crude oil. That dependence has come into sharp focus after the US-Iran war disrupted energy supplies through the Strait of Hormuz.

Asked directly whether they support ethanol blending, 52 per cent of all respondents replied in the negative, while 25.9 per cent said they were unsure. Only 22 per cent expressed support.

Nearly 60 per cent of respondents, across political lines, believed the programme is being implemented in haste without adequate research. Fewer than 16 per cent disagreed.

Overall, more than 55 per cent of respondents said they would prefer not to use E20, the blend of 80 per cent petrol and 20 per cent ethanol, in their vehicles because of concerns about potential damage. These concerns included reduced fuel efficiency (52.8 per cent) and vehicle damage (54.2 per cent).

As a follow-up, a staggering 76 per cent urged the government to offer both ethanol-blended petrol and regular petrol simultaneously. A similar proportion felt the blended fuel should be sold at a significantly lower price than regular petrol to compensate for the perceived risks.

However, even if sold at a lower price, only 40.8 per cent of respondents said they would buy the blended fuel. Meanwhile, 20.7 per cent said they believe the government has not provided adequate and accurate information about the fuel and its compatibility with vehicles.

Given these concerns, 56.3 per cent of respondents, including 49.2 per cent of BJP voters, said making E20 mandatory is unfair to owners of older vehicles that may not have been optimised to run on the blended fuel.

On the policy front, more than 43 per cent of BJP voters said they believed E20 would help India reduce its fuel import bill and strengthen the country's energy security.

The survey results came after the government doubled down on its defence of the new fuel, insisting the transition would shield the economy from international oil shocks.

RECAP | E20 Fuel Can't Be Cheaper Than Pure Petrol. Centre Explains Why

However, the government maintained that E20 cannot be cheaper than regular petrol because its production costs are linked to guaranteed payouts for farmers rather than global crude oil prices.

Puri snaps back over E20 row

Last week, Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri spoke to NDTV about the controversy.

Puri said complaints about engine wear, gasket damage and mileage surfaced only after the June 5 launch of E85 flex-fuel vehicles by Hero, Suzuki and Toyota. The rollout prompted opposition allegations that consumers were being subjected to an unconsented experiment and renewed demands for fuel choice at petrol pumps, similar to the system in Brazil.

RECAP | "Deliberate Fearmongering": Hardeep Puri To NDTV On E20 Row

Addressing technical concerns over gasket wear and reduced mileage in older, pre-2023 vehicles, the minister acknowledged there was some basis for the complaints but described them as manageable and dependent on driving conditions.

He cited manufacturer data showing 1.5 crore vehicles had been serviced without complaint and noted ethanol's higher octane rating (108 compared with roughly 84 for petrol) as the reason for marginal mileage differences.

On demands for consumer choice at fuel stations, Puri said separate ethanol grades are not practical because fuel stations use shared underground storage tanks that cannot accommodate multiple fuel blends simultaneously.

The minister also argued that ethanol blending has become central to India's energy security strategy, particularly because more than 85 per cent of the country's crude oil is imported and supply routes through the Strait of Hormuz remain vulnerable to geopolitical disruptions. He said the programme has saved Rs 1.9 lakh crore in foreign exchange and linked it to the broader Atmanirbhar Bharat push in energy, alongside incentives to boost domestic oil and gas exploration.