E20 fuel safe for use in all running autos, says ARAI

E20 is safe for use in any car plying on Indian roads, stated the chief of the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) Reji Mathai, on Saturday (August 30, 2025), referring to a 2021 examine it carried out however refused to offer additional particulars of the report which isn’t but in public area.

The report is “submitted to authorities,” Mr. Mathai stated at a press convention when pressed for particulars of its content material. “E20 is safe enough for any vintage of the vehicle plying on Indian roads,” he asserted whereas including that there had been no occasion of breakdown reported but. He stated that each two-wheelers and vehicles of 2-3 Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) had been examined on a complete distance of 1 lakh km, and there was no influence discovered on non-E20 autos attributable to E20 mix or petrol blended with 20% ethanol.

Prashant Banerjee, Executive Director on the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, assured that each automobile warranties and insurance coverage can be honoured by automobile producers and insurance coverage suppliers, and the OEMs have been in the method of writing to prospects on this challenge. 

’Misplaced info’

Refuting assertions a few sizeable drop in mileage, the chief of the automobile makers’ affiliation said, contemplating the intrinsic nature of the fuel, there could possibly be a “marginal drop”. He defined that the one-fifth ethanol mix, which holds a calorific worth 30-35% decrease, can solely translate to a lack of a most of 6% in the bottom fuel’s vitality output. Mr. Banerjee, nevertheless, sought to emphasize that the lack of vitality will be mitigated. He held that a number of components decide the mileage of a car, underlining that autos in testing situations prompted an effectivity lack of 2-4%.

“Any entity asserting (efficiency loss) by 20-50%, please be clear that this is a misinformation campaign,” he said. Mr. Banerjee relayed the identical for assertions about insurance coverage and warranties on autos. He emphasised they’d be honoured regardless of the fuel compatibility envisaged in a car handbook.

No improve in worth of autos

Speaking to The Hindu, Vikram Gulati, Executive Vice-President at Toyota Kirloskar Motors, stated there shall be no improve in the worth of autos to make them E20 compliant. “Complete E20 compliance came in starting April 1 this year. All the fine-tuning and emission testing have been done,” he defined, including, “Thus, all vehicles being sold now all stand certified. So, there is no problem.”

Higher procurement prices of ethanol not serving to decrease fuel costs

Responding to queries about no seen influence of mixing on retail costs of fuel, P.S. Ravi, Advisor on the Federation of Indian Petroleum Industry, underlined that the procurement worth of ethanol has been a lot increased than the worth of petrol. However, he sought to emphasize that the oil business has been capable of preserve the worth ranges as earlier however upward fluctuations in the current previous.

Additionally, Mr. Gulati held that the advantages of the mixing program should be thought of from a wider perspective. He pointed to financial savings in international change and present account deficit, extra money accruing to farmers, and investments again into the auto sector in the direction of inexperienced applied sciences. “This (the saved money) is helping our country transition to a sustainable future without creating any disruption to our economy and creating a future which is self-reliant not only in the realm of energy but also technology and raw materials,” he said.