E20 petrol controversy | India's top carmakers privately raise serious concerns about fuel contamination: Report

India's leading automobile manufacturers, including Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors and Mahindra, have privately expressed serious concerns about fuel contamination involving E20, a petrol blend containing 20% ethanol. Despite public support for the E20 petrol blend, which is mandatory nationwide since April 1, these companies raised internal worries about its impact on vehicle performance.

Emails reviewed by Reuters revealed these hidden concerns, contradicting the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) that withdrew its complaint following the government's public assurance about E20 petrol. Internal discussions among executives did not question the accuracy of these findings. Industry testing, involving over 250 fuel samples from 21 Indian states, detected high chloride contamination in 18 states and high moisture content in multiple locations.

These findings significantly exceeded the permissible limits set by the government, with chloride levels reaching up to 570 parts per million in Rajasthan and moisture levels up to 13,000 parts per million in Andhra Pradesh. Maruti's senior executive, Anoop Bhat, expressed that fuel injectors can only tolerate 1 ppm chloride, while Mahindra's engineer, R Ramaprabhu, warned about rapid vehicle failures due to organic chloride contamination, causing failures within just 200 kilometers. Despite these concerns, the petroleum ministry did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment.