SC to hear plea seeking mandatory disclosure of ethanol content in petrol on Aug 31

The Supreme Court is set to hear a petition on August 31, requesting mandatory and uniform labelling on petrol pumps regarding the exact percentage of ethanol in petrol. Filing the petition is Mr. Narendra Kumar Goswami. The court will also hear a request for every fuel invoice to explicitly state the percentage of ethanol in the sold petrol.

Additionally, the court seeks an official, public database of vehicle compatibility with various ethanol blends, including information on which blends are suitable for each vehicle based on manufacturer, model, engine type and year of manufacture. The petition also calls for an independent expert committee to be constituted, which will examine and submit a public report on the real-world vehicle compatibility of E20 across the existing fleet.

The committee will provide a report on various impacts of ethanol blending, including fuel efficiency, engine longevity, maintenance costs, warranty and insurance implications, net environmental footprint, food-security and feed-diversion concerns, and real policy files, technical studies, compatibility reports, safety standards, consumer advisories and records of public consultation supporting the compulsory roll-out of E20.

Authorities are further directed to formulate and publish a transparent transition framework for legacy and non-compatible vehicles, considering designated availability of lower ethanol petrol where feasible, along with a reasoned decision backed by expert material and public consultation.