Nitin Gadkari calls public rage over E20 fuel 'paid campaign', Hardeep Singh Puri rules out ethanol blend above 20%

Union road transport minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday said the rage over blending 20 per cent ethanol in petrol fuel was a "paid campaign".

"Three months ago, huge noise (khub haala)) was made against the E20 (20 per cent ethanol-blended petrol) fuel; now rage against E20 fuel is over...It was a paid campaign," Gadkari said during an event organised by industry body CII.

He reiterated that India can save precious foreign exchange by reducing imports of fossil fuels.

The minister said he had reviewed 700-800 projects after taking note of social media complaints about the poor condition of some highway stretches.

“I am not going to compromise on the quality of the highways,” Gadkari said, assuring users that they would face no inconvenience on highways over the next two years.

The remarks came a day after the government notified changes to the Central Motor Vehicles Rules 1989, allowing flex-fuel vehicles that can run on up to E100 (nearly pure ethanol).

Union minister of petroleum and natural gas Hardeep Singh Puri also echoed Gadkari's remarks on E20, blaming misinformation and a "contrived narrative" about biofuels.

He said that the Centre has no immediate plan to increase the ethanol blending in petrol beyond the current 20 per cent.

"As far as biofuels are concerned, yes, the 20 per cent (of ethanol blending) was the target, and there is no desire, just now, to increase it by more than 20 per cent", Puri said during the inauguration of the 29th Energy Technology and Innovation Meet in South Goa.

Referring to a social media post which claimed that vehicles had stopped and were facing breakdowns, Puri clarified that (compliant) vehicles are meant for E20 blended fuel. "There was some problem with the older vehicles which were manufactured before 2003," he pointed out.

On problems reported by the E20 fuel users, Puri claimed, "I think there was a problem with the transportation of the blended fuel. The tankers which were used for transportation were also used for other things."

He also dismissed claims of E20-led engine damage and said, "Someone had made the claim and the particular automobile manufacturer has filed a case against him."

According to the minister, the introduction of E20 petrol helped the Union government save Rs 1,60,000 crore, of which Rs 1,40,000 crore was given back to farmers. "Farmers have become Urjadata (giver of energy) from Annadata (giver of food)".