New Delhi, Aug. 17 -- Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran has suggested bringing back E10 petrol for older two-wheelers amid the ongoing debate over E20 fuel. He has also called for a closer assessment of the food, feed and water costs associated with increasing ethanol blending beyond 20%.
Nageswaran and Department of Economic Affairs consultant Akash Poojari argued that India's ethanol policy should not focus only on the benefits of replacing crude oil imports. They said policymakers also need to consider the land, water and agricultural resources required to produce the additional ethanol. India has already reached its 20% ethanol blending target earlier than originally planned. While the programme has been credited with reducing dependence on imported crude, saving foreign exchange and creating an additional market for agricultural produce, higher blending would require larger quantities of feedstock such as sugarcane, maize and grains. The authors cautioned that moving towards blends such as E27 or E30 could intensify the food-versus-fuel trade-off. Greater demand for maize and other crops from ethanol producers could affect their availability for food, livestock and poultry feed.
Water availability is another concern. The proposal argues that the assessment of ethanol blending should account not only for the water used at distilleries but also for the water required to grow the crops used as feedstock. Committing agricultural land and water to fuel production could make it difficult to reverse cropping patterns later. The recommendation for E10 is specifically aimed at older two-wheelers. Nageswaran and Poojari estimate that around 75 million to 80 million older carburettor-equipped two-wheelers built before BS-IV remain on Indian roads. They argued that carburettor-based vehicles may face particular challenges with higher ethanol blends because their fuel-air mixture cannot automatically adjust to the additional oxygen associated with ethanol. Older rubber components may also be less suited to higher ethanol concentrations.
The authors proposed allowing E10 alongside E20 for these older vehicles while ethanol-compatible components are gradually fitted. This, they said, could provide a practical option for owners of older vehicles while also reducing the amount of ethanol required overall. The proposal does not reject the benefits of ethanol blending but calls for a broader cost-benefit assessment before India moves beyond E20. The government has maintained that extensive vehicle trials have not shown significant compatibility or performance problems with E20, including among legacy vehicles. The debate, therefore, is increasingly shifting from the impact of E20 on vehicle engines to the wider economic consequences of producing more ethanol, including its implications for food supplies, agricultural land and water resources.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.