AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday asked vehicle makers siding with the government’s mandate for ethanol-blended petrol whether they would compensate owners if the fuel damaged vehicle engines or reduced mileage.
“Maruti Suzuki, Toyota Kirloskar and Hero MotoCorp lied to the public during their media conferences. Their representatives claimed that if someone owns an E0, E5 or E10 vehicle, using E20 (20 per cent ethanol-blended petrol) would cause no problem. They admitted mileage would fall by only 5-7 per cent but claimed there would be no damage to the fuel tank, fuel system or engine,” Kejriwal said here on Tuesday.
He claimed all vehicles manufactured before 2023 were designed to run on pure petrol, not ethanol. “Even if they use petrol containing up to 10 per cent ethanol, there is generally no issue. From 2023 onwards, all vehicles manufactured in India began to be E20-compatible,” he said.
Kejriwal said he would write to the car makers who were “spreading these lies”. “I will ask them why their owner’s manuals say one thing while they say something completely different during media conferences. If the mileage of a vehicle drops by more than 10 per cent or if using E20 damages the vehicle or causes wear and tear, will they compensate the owner?”
The former Delhi chief minister said he would also write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking why the public should suffer because of his “misadventure”. “The government is spreading another lie by claiming that India is not the first country to use ethanol and that many other countries already use it without any public outcry…. Germany, the US, France and Thailand all currently use less than E10.”
BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya pointed out that the UPA government had also proposed ethanol blending. Sharing a video on X of then petroleum minister Mani Shankar Aiyar’s speech in the Lok Sabha on the issue in 2005, Malviya wrote: “All those who have suddenly ‘discovered’ problems with their cars and fuel economy may be disappointed to revisit what the UPA itself was saying.”
“The then UPA petroleum minister accused the NDA of ignoring the interests of sugarcane farmers and promised Parliament that his government would blend ethanol with petrol. He even urged people to drink less (alcohol) so that more ethanol could
be diverted for fuel!” Malviya wrote.