‘No pressure on automakers to hide any fact’: Centre clears air amid E20 backlash

5 min readUpdated: Jul 30, 2026 10:07 PM IST An ethanol petrol pump in New Delhi. (Express Photo by Abhinav Saha)There is no pressure from the government on vehicle manufacturers to support E20 petrol or to hide any facts about the fuel, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) said Thursday, rejecting certain claims doing the rounds on social media. Amid the public backlash over E20 fuel — 80 parts petrol and 20 parts ethanol — the ministry also rejected claims that automakers have privately indicated that E20 is not desirable. India achieved 20% ethanol blending in petrol last year and E20 is the standard petrol variant available across the country. There has been a public backlash over the E20 fuel, with claims ranging from a notable reduction in mileage to engine component wea