New Delhi : Entrepreneur and TV personality Tehseen Poonawalla on Tuesday termed the Centre’s reported rethink on E25 as the “first victory” for citizens protesting against the implementation of the ethanol-blending programme. People have been alleging a drop in mileage and vehicle wear and tear because of E20 petrol. Poonawalla, under the banner of Team Bharat, organised the first offline protest at New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on Sunday.
Auto enthusiast and rally driver Ratan Dhillon from Team Bharat during the Sunday protest told India Today Digital that there was evidence that could link the wear and tear in cars to E20 petrol. “Wear and tear is from ethanol — we will prove in the court — fuel filter and the entire pipeline gets choked. I was in Leh last week, and I had to leave the car there,” Dhillon said, blaming ethanol-blended petrol for the vehicle’s woes.
“The government is likely to push back the proposed shift to a higher blend of ethanol fuel E25 comprising 75% petrol and 25% ethanol,” the newspaper reported on Tuesday. Earlier in June, The Times of India had reported that the government was “likely to hold off” on higher ethanol blending until vehicle technology and supporting infrastructure were ready. Criticism of the E20 policy had already gained momentum by June. But the government has still not rolled back the E20 policy.
The Indian Express report from Tuesday noted that although no official launch date had been announced for E25, two government decisions in recent weeks had fuelled speculation that higher ethanol blends were imminent. These included the exemption of central excise duty on petrol blended with 22% to 30% ethanol and the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) notifying fuel specifications for these higher blends.
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