Can India sell E10 alongside E20? The logistics challenge explained

As E20 becomes the nationwide petrol blend, the question is whether India's existing fuel network can accommodate E10 alongside it. Here's what experts have to say

Earlier this week, the Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) V Anantha Nageswaran wrote a column in The Indian Express, suggesting the government to bring back a lower ethanol-blended petrol such as E10 alongside E20 to address concerns among owners of older vehicles.

 

The suggestion came amid complaints from vehicle owners about mileage and maintenance after the nationwide shift to E20. The proposal, however, raises a practical question: can India run two petrol blends through a fuel distribution network that has already transitioned to E20?

The debate over mileage drop

A survey conducted by LocalCircles in June found that 66 per cent of owners of petrol vehicles bought before 2023 reported a mileage decline of more than 10 per cent, while 55 per cent reported increased wear and tear or a greater need for repairs.

   

The government has acknowledged a 3–5 per cent fuel-economy reduction in some vehicles with E20, while saying the impact varies by vehicle.

 

The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam) had also sent a communication to the petroleum ministry raising concerns about chloride and moisture contamination in E20 fuel and its possible impact on vehicle components. It later withdrew the communication, saying some of the numbers required further authentication and wider data collection.

Are there plans to reintroduce lower-ethanol petrol?

The government currently has no proposal to bring back E0 or E10 petrol. In a written Lok Sabha reply in July, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said maintaining parallel nationwide supply chains for E0, E10 and E20 across more than 100,000 retail outlets would increase logistics complexity, inventory and handling costs.

India’s ethanol logistics network since 2021

India Ethanol Logistics Growth  Infogram

 

Can India practically offer E10 alongside E20?

Experts say yes, but a nationwide dual-blend network would be difficult.

 

Ajay Bansal, president of the All India Petroleum Dealers Association, described it as "a logistical challenge". He said oil companies have developed their systems around E20 and would have to create a separate system for E10 or pure petrol.

 

At a petrol pump, offering another petrol grade could mean additional storage capacity, dispensing equipment and related infrastructure. Bansal said space would be a particular problem in major cities such as Delhi, Kolkata, Patna and Bengaluru. He said some outlets could potentially be converted to offer E10 or pure petrol, but "it cannot be done at all pumps".

 

The cost would not stop at installing another tank. A second grade would require separate inventories, calibrated dispensing, labelling and quality checks. At the wider network level, oil companies would have to plan separate procurement and blending streams and manage them through terminals, depots and transportation networks.

 

Professor Anjal Prakash, faculty of public policy at FLAME University, said a dual system would require differentiated procurement, blending, storage, transport, quality testing, labelling and dispensing arrangements. At selected outlets, additional tanks, pipelines, dispensers and testing systems could also be required.

 

There is also a demand question. If E10 is supplied at an outlet but sales remain low, the additional infrastructure could remain underutilised.

 

Bansal said dealers need data on how much E10 would actually be consumed before companies invest in a separate network. If demand created by the current E20 debate falls later, he said, the infrastructure created for E10 could lose value.  CK Jain, president of the Grain Ethanol Manufacturers Association (GEMA), said “dispensing is the most difficult part” of offering E10 alongside E20. He also questioned whether the benefit of maintaining two base petrol grades would justify the infrastructure involved.

What happens before fuel reaches the pump?

The complexity starts well before a vehicle reaches a petrol station. The broad chain is: 

Ethanol Supply Chain Process  Infogram

  Under a dual-blend model, separate inventories and blending plans would have to be managed through this chain.

What do other countries do?

Brazil:

 

Brazil is not a direct parallel to India's proposed E10-E20 system. Its gasoline contains mandatory anhydrous ethanol, while hydrated ethanol is also sold as a finished fuel. Brazil introduced E30 nationally in August 2025 and temporarily moved to E32 from August 1, 2026.

 

The key difference is that Brazil has a large flex-fuel vehicle fleet and has developed a fuel market around both ethanol as a standalone fuel and ethanol-blended gasoline. It is not maintaining several low-ethanol petrol grades for different generations of conventional vehicles.

 

US:

 

The US provides a closer example of multiple ethanol blends coexisting. E10 is available at nearly every fuelling station. E15 is available at thousands of stations, while E85 is available at more than 4,200 public stations, according to the US Department of Energy. Some stations use blender pumps that can combine fuel from separate underground tanks to provide different ethanol blends.

 

But even in the US, multiple blends do not have to be available at every station. The US Energy Information Administration has also documented that selling E10 and E15 can require separate pumps and storage tanks, or more expensive blender-pump systems where tank space is limited.

What could India realistically do?

The experts' responses point towards a middle path rather than nationwide parallel availability.

 

One option is to offer E10 at selected high-volume outlets, particularly in cities or districts with a high share of older petrol vehicles. Another is a wider but targeted E10-E20 network. The most expensive option would be to make both blends available nationwide.

 

Prakash said, “Vehicle age, compatibility and fuel-demand data should form the basis of any decision on where E10 remains available.” He suggested combining “vehicle registrations, manufacturing year, model-specific compatibility, manufacturer warranty information, scrappage trends and actual fuel sales at individual outlets” to map demand.

 

“E10 outlets would be the most efficient when located near depots capable of storing and dispatching the blend without excessive additional trucking,” he said.

 

Bansal said E10 could be offered at selected outlets, although space and infrastructure constraints would make it difficult to provide it at every pump.

 

Jain, meanwhile, questioned the technical basis for maintaining E10 alongside E20 and called for technical studies to establish the case for a separate E10 fuel.

 

For now, the question is less about whether India can supply E10 and E20, and more about how much additional infrastructure would be needed to make both available without disrupting the existing E20 network.