E20 Petrol Debate: Can India Bring Back E10 Without a Costly Fuel Network Overhaul?

Nageswaran made the suggestion in a column in The Indian Express, amid complaints from vehicle owners about mileage and maintenance following the nationwide shift to E20.

A survey conducted by LocalCircles in June found that 66 per cent of owners of petrol vehicles bought before 2023 reported a mileage decline of more than 10 per cent, while 55 per cent said they had experienced increased wear and tear or a greater need for repairs.

The government has acknowledged a 3–5 per cent reduction in fuel economy in some vehicles with E20, while maintaining that the impact varies by vehicle.

The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam) had also sent a communication to the petroleum ministry raising concerns over chloride and moisture contamination in E20 fuel and its possible impact on vehicle components. It later withdrew the communication, saying some of the numbers required further authentication and wider data collection.

The government currently has no proposal to bring back E0 or E10 petrol. In a written Lok Sabha reply in July, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said maintaining parallel nationwide supply chains for E0, E10 and E20 across more than 100,000 retail outlets would increase logistics complexity, inventory and handling costs.

Experts say a dual-blend system is possible, but creating such a network nationwide would be difficult.

Ajay Bansal, president of the All India Petroleum Dealers Association, described the proposal as “a logistical challenge”. He said oil companies have developed their systems around E20 and would have to create a separate system for E10 or pure petrol.

At a petrol pump, offering another petrol grade could require additional storage capacity, dispensing equipment and related infrastructure. Bansal said space would be a particular problem in major cities such as Delhi, Kolkata, Patna and Bengaluru. He said some outlets could potentially be converted to offer E10 or pure petrol, but “it cannot be done at all pumps”.

The cost would extend beyond installing another tank. A second grade would require separate inventories, calibrated dispensing, labelling and quality checks. At the wider network level, oil companies would have to plan separate procurement and blending streams and manage them through terminals, depots and transportation networks.

Professor Anjal Prakash, faculty of public policy at FLAME University, said a dual system would require differentiated procurement, blending, storage, transport, quality testing, labelling and dispensing arrangements. At selected outlets, additional tanks, pipelines, dispensers and testing systems could also be required.

Demand is another concern. If E10 is supplied at an outlet but sales remain low, the additional infrastructure could remain underutilised.

Bansal said dealers need data on how much E10 would actually be consumed before companies invest in a separate network. If demand created by the current E20 debate falls later, he said, infrastructure created for E10 could lose value.

CK Jain, president of the Grain Ethanol Manufacturers Association (GEMA), said “dispensing is the most difficult part” of offering E10 alongside E20. He also questioned whether the benefit of maintaining two base petrol grades would justify the infrastructure involved.

The complexity starts well before fuel reaches a petrol station. The broad chain is central to the challenge of introducing and managing another petrol blend alongside E20.