My take on Ethenol issue

This post shares my take on the ongoing Ethenol blending issue.

Vehicle owner's point of view

#1 Don't force E20, provide compatible fuel for 15-20 years: When an Indian citizen buys a car or bike, he/she pays GST, road tax, registration and other charges, valid for 15 years. Half the on road price goes to govt. It is the responsibility of the Govt to provide compatible fuel for minimum 15 years and not force an incompatible E20 on E10 compatible vehicles under false pretexts.

#2 No commitment of E20 supply for next 20 years. Govt is talking about E20 roll out by 2029. If one buys a new E20 ready car today, within 3 years there is a risk that E20 will be discontinued and E25 will be made standard. Again E20 vehicle owners will suffer

#3 No Transparency

Govt should have transparently declared impact of E20- drop in fuel economy, repair expenses etc. But no such declarations were made. After massive public outrage, Govt is slowly admitting

- There will be 3-5% mileage drop

- There will be some parts damage

- Govt refuses to make public any testing report related to the topic, including IIT Kanpur one, while claiming all is well

#4 All benefits govt is keeping, all risk vehicle owners have to own

- No price concession for public, though Govt Minister had claimed petrol can be as cheap as 15 Rs if ethanol is being used. On E85 Govt is talking about 20 Rs discount- with 50-60% drop in mileage, E85 should be 60-70% cheaper. Different arguments and logics are brought up explaining why price can't be reduced, while cheaper fuel was a major factor for promoting Ethanol.

#5 Conflict of interest

#6 Trust issue: Concerned ministers have lost all the trust by giving meaningless statements, false claims, filing FIR on influencers and so on

#7 Ecosystem not ready: Fuel station owners say they are not ready and fear water absorption during monsoon. Dealers are blaming damage on adultrated petrol- customer is clueless which petrol is adultrated which one is pure, because Govt agencies fail to maintain quality and consistency.

Ministers and their family owning ethanol factories and sugar cane mills is a clear conflict of interest

I feel Govt rushed through Ethenol blending program ahead of time without overall ecosystem and infrastructure being ready, just to please ethenol lobby. People are slowly realizing negative effects of Ethanol overdose and raising their concern, but govt ministers are adamant and indifferent to people's concerns. They also demonstrated their lack of understanding on various topics when they answered media questions

Watch a video of mine on this topic... [Watch on youtube]