On Saturday, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) held a “national town hall against E20” in the national capital. AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal announced that he would march to the Prime Minister’s residence at 12 pm on Tuesday with 100 volunteers to submit a petition backed by 200,000 signatures collected through an online campaign.
The issue is also raging in Maharashtra’s political discourse. Addressing a rally at Mumbai’s Shivaji Park on April 26, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray took a swipe at Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, saying the “khadda (potholes)” minister was now talking about ethanol. “This is definitely the next issue,” Thackeray said. His son and Sena (UBT) legislator Aaditya Thackeray argued that many people were upset by what they saw as the forced adoption of E20 petrol.
Congress state units have likewise demanded a probe into the ethanol policy and into any potential conflict of interest linked to it. At a July 23 meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture, several MPs questioned senior government officials about complaints of vehicle problems associated with E20 fuel and asked what steps the government was taking in response.
The controversy has also reached the Bombay High Court. Later this week, the court is scheduled to hear Gadkari’s suit against Meta, X Corp, Google LLC and unidentified persons over allegedly defamatory deepfakes and AI-generated posts related to the ethanol policy. During the previous hearing on July 28, Gadkari sought the immediate removal of fabricated content and an injunction against its circulation. His plea contends that unknown individuals falsely portrayed him as personally responsible for the programme and alleged that he and his family had profited from it. The next hearing is on August 5.
At Saturday’s town hall in New Delhi, Kejriwal argued that consumers should be free to choose between E20 and regular petrol at fuel stations, and that E20 should be sold at a lower price. Ravi, a gig worker, said his motorcycle had developed problems over the past two months, affecting his livelihood. Anupam, an environmental science professor, argued that ethanol should be assessed not only for tailpipe emissions but also for fertiliser use, water consumption, agricultural practices and changes in land use.
The government has mounted a forceful defence of the blending programme, saying extensive testing and large-scale field experience have found no evidence that E20 petrol causes abnormal engine wear, corrosion or reduced vehicle life. It argues that the programme has strengthened India’s energy security while shielding consumers from swings in global oil prices. Union Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways Harsh Malhotra, who also heads the BJP’s Delhi unit, accused Kejriwal of spreading “misinformation” about E20 petrol. Malhotra claimed that wider use of E20 had improved Delhi’s air quality by 30 per cent and would save nearly ₹1 trillion in foreign exchange during the first year.
In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha last Wednesday, Gadkari said some rubber parts and gaskets in BS-III vehicles — introduced from April 1, 2005, and manufactured before 2016 — might need replacement when operated on E20 fuel, though such changes could be carried out during routine servicing. He added that automobile manufacturers and vehicle-testing agencies had made clear that mileage depends on multiple factors beyond fuel type, and that studies had found no need to modify car or two-wheeler engines.
A day later, in another written reply tabled in the Lok Sabha, Gadkari said E20 petrol could reduce fuel economy by 2 to 6 per cent depending on a vehicle’s category and age. He maintained, however, that dynamometer tests and on-road durability trials had detected no engine failures attributable to E20. The minister said the fuel delivers better acceleration, improved ride quality and roughly 30 per cent lower carbon emissions than E10. More than 200 million two-wheelers and over 30 million petrol cars, he added, have been operating on ethanol blends without any verified evidence of widespread engine failure or vehicle breakdown caused by ethanol blending.
In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha on July 20, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Suresh Gopi said any reduction in mileage for vehicles designed for fuels below E10 is limited to around 3 to 5 per cent.
 "E20 Petrol")