Scrutiny isn't suspicion

While debates continue to swirl about the safety and efficacy of E20, India putting flex-fuel vehicles (FFVs) on the road and opening retail sales of E85 in June went almost unnoticed. Beyond the din, this development deserves a patient hearing.

Blending went up from under 1.5% in 2013-14 to 20% in 2025-26, by-now famously 5 yrs ahead of schedule. Ethanol procurement went from about 38 cr litres in 2013-14 to 1,040 cr litres today. Production capacity grew nearly 5x. That represents a decade-long steady progression, not a hurried experiment.

An FFV runs on anything between E20 and E100. That single capability opens a market for ethanol far larger than what blending alone can reach. Blending is capped by what an ordinary engine can tolerate, while a flex engine isn't so constrained.

GoI estimates that if even 50% of new 2- and 4-wheeler sales shifted to FFVs, additional ethanol demand would run into 311.8 cr litres, put an extra ₹12,403 cr into farming communities, and cut 66.4 lakh metric tonnes of CO2. Against annual passenger vehicle sales of nearly 37 lakh units, even a partial shift multiplies the programme's impact several times over.

E85 has been identified as the single fuel standard for FFVs under BIS specifications. It will commence with an initial rollout of 50-100 ready outlets across Delhi-NCR and Mumbai-Pune-Nagpur corridors. The plan is to scale it up to around 500 outlets by this December and to about 5,000 by end-2027 - infrastructure laid out corridor by corridor, slightly ahead of demand.

Much of the recent anxiety has centred on the claim that higher blends such as E25 are being imposed without adequate testing of the possible impact higher ethanol content might have on the engines of vehicles. But the evolving nature of ethanol use in combination with petrol is testimony to the cautious stance of GoI towards mixing increasing amounts of ethanol in gasoline.

The process started in 2003 with mixing only 5% of ethanol in select states, followed by a national rollout in 2005. It was raised to 15% in 2023, 19% through 2024, and 20% from 2025. Each increase in ethanol-blending was introduced only after testing with vehicle manufacturers and technical institutions. This is surely sufficient evidence that GoI's intention was not to move fast and deal with the consequences later.

In fact, one could conclude that GoI was not moving fast enough in adopting a technology solution that was proven, and would significantly reduce its reliance on energy imports. The strongest evidence in support of the solution, however, is not procedural. It is the fleet.

Over 20 cr 2-wheelers and 3 cr petrol cars have run on E19-E20 fuel for more than two-and-a-half years. 2-wheelers, with their smaller engines and simpler fuel systems, would have expected to suffer and show damage due to higher ethanol blending. But there has been no recall, no service advisory and no warranty rejection wave from any 2-wheeler manufacturer. Hero MotoCorp and Maruti Suzuki, the largest manufacturers, have not reported any adverse results from users.

None of this means that all questions have been satisfactorily answered. Instead of coming down on concerns, GoI should assuage them. Consumers deserve clarity on pricing support, road tax concessions and warranty treatment as the flex-fuel ecosystem scales. GoI would do well to put out a set of responses to frequently asked questions and address the concerns of the consumers, rather than see them as politically motivated.

NITI Aayog's classification of FFVs running high ethanol blends as 'zero-emission vehicles' is a claim that deserves scrutiny and proper explanation. It is asserted that use of E85 achieves 'near complete elimination' of particulate emissions. A technical and independent ratification of this claim by Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) or one of the IITs will help improve public confidence and build a positive narrative for ethanol-blending.

Scrutiny does not amount to suspicion, and informed disagreement is not a viral panic. With Hero flex-fuel motorcycles and a Maruti flex-fuel car already on the roads, the country has entered a new phase of clean mobility built on more than a decade of tested, incremental policy. The question is not so much whether the programme can be trusted, but whether the public narrative around it can catch up with what has already been successfully built and operationalised.

The writer is former vice-chairman, NITI Aayog.