E20 may marginally hurt mileage, but vehicle damage claims ‘overblown’: Nitin Gadkari

Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari has told The Indian Express that while the average mileage of vehicles may have marginally reduced because of blending petrol with ethanol, the claims made online about damage to cars are “overblown” and part of a “false narrative”.

“Show me a single car that has suffered damage because of E20 fuel,” the newspaper on Thursday quoted him as saying. “What is being circulated on social media is part of a concerted false narrative.”

Gadkari said that vehicle manufacturers had been asked to replace parts of older cars during servicing that may have suffered minor damage.

The comments came amid criticism by vehicle owners that E20 fuel was reducing mileage and damaging cars.

The minister said the E20 variant of petrol, which has 20% ethanol, was introduced across the country in 2025 after it had been cleared in multiple tests carried out by vehicle manufacturers and Pune-based government-run testing lab Automotive Research Association of India, the newspaper reported.

The minister was quoted as saying that there is a difference in calorific value between ethanol and petrol. “...mileage also depends on driving conditions, especially in cities such as Delhi or Mumbai, where vehicles stay in lower gears due to driving conditions…” he told the newspaper.

Gadkari cited the automotive research association’s report as...

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