Are vehicles getting damaged due to E20 petrol, how much damage is caused to old cars and bikes, the government answered 7 questions.

The Central Government has issued a detailed clarification on the claims going on in social media regarding Ethanol Blended Petrol (E20). The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has said that many of the claims being spread about E20 petrol are misleading and available scientific studies, data of automobile companies and years of experience do not support these claims.

The government has answered seven major questions arising regarding E20. It is also said that E19-E20 petrol and E15 petrol are being widely used in the country for the last two and a half years and E15 petrol for the last three and a half years. During this period, no authentic case of engine failure or large-scale shutdown of vehicles has come to light.

Know 7 questions and their answers

Can vehicles made before 2023 run on E20?

The government says that this claim is completely wrong. Ethanol blending in India has been increased in a phased manner. The average blending in 2013-14 was 1.53%, which will increase to 20% in 2025-26. Every day around 8 crore vehicles in the country get fuel filled at petrol pumps. A major automaker analyzed data on servicing of 2.84 crore vehicles in FY 2025-26, of which about 1.5 crore were vehicles that were not originally E20 certified. Despite this, there was no evidence of E20-related corrosion, abnormal wear or reduced life of parts.

Will 30 crore vehicles become useless?

The government has also completely rejected this claim. According to the ministry, in the last few years, more than 20 crore two-wheelers and more than 3 crore petrol cars have run on E15 and E20 fuel. If E20 had actually rendered vehicles unusable, there would have been millions of engine failures, warranty claims and major service campaigns across the country, but that did not happen.

Are automobile manufacturers against E20?

The government said that at a joint press conference of the Ministry of Petroleum, Ministry of Heavy Industries and Ministry of Road Transport on July 4, 2026, senior officials of Toyota Kirloskar, Maruti Suzuki, Hero MotoCorp, Hyundai, TVS Motor and Bajaj Auto publicly supported the E20 program. Maruti Suzuki said that no additional faults have been found with the E20 in its service data.

Are old vehicles at risk?

According to the government, in the 15 million older vehicles that were analyzed, there was no evidence of rust, excess wear or reduced engine life caused by E20. Another company also reported similar results in a study of 14 million ‘E20 vehicles’.

Will E20 reduce mileage too much?

The ministry says that mileage is affected by many factors, such as traffic, driving style, vehicle servicing, tire pressure and use of air conditioner. In some old E10 based vehicles, the mileage may be reduced by about 3 to 3.5 percent, but the big claims being made on social media are not true. On the contrary, the government also says that E20 also offers benefits like higher octane rating, better anti-knock capability, clean combustion and better engine performance.

Is there government pressure on companies?

The government has also called this allegation baseless. According to the ministry, vehicle manufacturers are independent listed companies and if E20 had caused widespread harm, they would neither have continued its warranty nor certified it. According to the companies, their opinion is based on engineering tests, scientific studies and actual service data, and not on any government pressure.

Were the rules implemented without testing?

The government clarified that before implementing the E20 program, extensive technical testing and consultation was done with automobile companies, SIAM, ARAI, component manufacturers, testing agencies and oil marketing companies.