- Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri called concerns over E20 petrol a manufactured controversy
- Hero MotoCorp serviced 1.5 crore E20 vehicles without any complaints about fuel damage
- Chennai mechanic Madras Mechanic found no ethanol-related engine damage in thousands of vehicles
Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri has dismissed concerns over the government's E20 ethanol-blended petrol mandate. Calling it a "manufactured" controversy, Puri, in an interview with NDTV's Gauri Dwivedi, highlighted that automakers have found no evidence of the fuel damaging vehicles. Puri said Hero MotoCorp alone has serviced 1.5 crore vehicles running on E20 without receiving a single complaint related to the fuel blend. He noted that around 20 crore two-wheelers and 20 lakh four-wheelers currently use E20 petrol, which has been sold across India since April 2025, while the earlier E15 blend was in use for three and a half years before that without controversy.
"Insofar as E20 is concerned, I can tell you one particular manufacturer, I think it was Hero Motors. They have serviced 1.5 crore vehicles using E20. Not a single complaint," said Puri.
The cabinet minister also mentioned a Chennai-based mechanic, Ashwin Durai, known online as "Madras Mechanic," saying the individual had analysed thousands of vehicles and never encountered ethanol-related engine damage.
"There is a person somewhere in Chennai. He's called Madras Mechanic. He's written an account, an absolutely technical account. He has analysed thousands of vehicles and he has never come across these," said Puri.
In a detailed blog post titled ‘E20 Petrol in Pre-2022 Cars - The Truth Nobody's Telling You', Durai stated that most pre-2022 petrol cars, especially BS4-era vehicles, can safely run on E20. He argued that viral claims of E20 destroying engines were often confused with existing maintenance problems.
Watch LIVE | E20 Ethanol Row: Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) Clears Air @GaurieD https://t.co/TqQUxzFP2f
— NDTV (@ndtv) July 8, 2026
Also Read | Does E20 Petrol Reduce Mileage? Minister Hardeep Puri Busts Ethanol Myths
E20 Controversy
On older cars, Puri conceded that E20 use may require earlier replacement of certain components, such as gaskets, and acknowledged that ethanol blending results in a marginal drop in mileage due to its lower energy content compared to pure petrol. However, he argued that driving habits, vehicle type and speed also significantly affect mileage.
"Ethanol has been used in all manner of engines. It has been used in F1. In fact, I think the standard fuel for F1 racing cars is E10. So I think there is a lot of deliberate fear-mongering. And my simple response to this is, all right, prior to June 5, prior to our launch of E85, how many complaints did you hear on ethanol blending?" said Puri.
Puri linked the recent surge in criticism to the government's launch of E85 fuel pumps in the Delhi-NCR region on June 5, coinciding with the entry of Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Auto and Toyota into flex-fuel vehicle production. He suggested the timing of the backlash was not coincidental, though he stopped short of naming those behind it.
Puri also said the ethanol programme had saved India approximately Rs 1,90,000 crore in foreign exchange and reduced dependence on crude imports, of which India imports over 85 per cent.
