New Delhi, Aug. 27 -- As consumer clamour to bring back lower-ethanol petrol rises, the government is exploring whether branded fuels such as XP95, Speed and Power95 can be sold in an E10 formulation, three people aware of the talks said. This would sidestep the need to build separate storage and dispensing infrastructure for E10 petrol, at a time when many buyers wary of regular E20 petrol are already turning to these high-octane fuels. The Union petroleum ministry is discussing the matter with state-run oil marketing companies (OMCs) Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum, the people cited above said on the condition of anonymity. The talks assume significance as consumer concerns about the negative impact of E20 petrol on older engines and mileage persist despite the government's assurances, sparking calls to bring back E10, considered more suitable for older vehicles. Starting April 2023, all automakers started manufacturing only E20-compliant vehicles. "Options are being looked at in order to offer the more appropriate E10 fuel for older vehicles and allay the consumer concerns," one of the people said. "Octane 95, which comes at a premium, is among the options being considered to be offered as E10." A second person said the government and OMCs are also looking at the demand viability and customer acceptability for Octane 95 as E10, which would be a premium E10. "So, it is being looked at if a regular cheaper E10 would be more acceptable or an expensive premium E10," the person added. The talks are in the initial stages and a final decision is yet to be taken, they added. Queries emailed to the spokespersons of petroleum and natural gas ministry, and state-run OMCs on Tuesday remained unanswered till press time. Octane 95 or 'branded' petrol-XP95 from Indian Oil Corp, BPCL's SPEED and HPCL's power95-is priced at Rs.110-115 per litre compared to Rs.102 per litre in Delhi. But with consumers worried about E20's impact on their vehicles, fuel pumps estimate that Octane 95 now accounts for about 15% of petrol sales by OMCs, compared to 4% in March, Mint reported earlier. Currently, Octane 95 fuel also contains E20 just like regular petrol, but it has additives including a chemical mixture that helps clean engine parts, improve fuel burning, prevent rust, and boost overall engine performance. It is available at 90,000 PSU petrol pumps. Apart from these two variants, there is also the Octane 100 variant. Priced at Rs.150-170, it is mostly used for luxury vehicles and has no ethanol, but higher additive content. However, given its higher cost, there is rising demand for a cheaper variant for the consumers using older vehicles....