NEW DELHI — The Indian government has affirmed that it will not offer concessions or commitments to import ethanol from the United States in the bilateral trade agreement negotiations between the two countries.
Quoted from Reuters, the Indian Ministry of Commerce stated that the policy of blending ethanol into gasoline continues to prioritize domestic supply.
India currently mandates that gasoline contains a 20% ethanol blend (E20). The regulations in force only permit domestically produced ethanol to be used as a gasoline additive.
The Ministry emphasized that reports suggesting India would open up large-scale ethanol imports from the United States are not true.
India and the United States are still negotiating a bilateral trade agreement. The negotiations aim to expand market access and reduce trade barriers. A senior US official said last month that the agreement is expected to be signed within the next three to four months.
The implementation of E20 gasoline continues to spark controversy in India. The government began implementing it nationally in 2025, although the initial target was 2030. The policy was implemented earlier to reduce oil imports.
However, the implementation of E20 has triggered protests, lawsuits, and complaints from some vehicle owners. They claim that fuel consumption has become more wasteful and several vehicle components have been damaged.
This week, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) retracted a letter previously sent to the government regarding alleged vehicle damage due to contaminated E20 fuel.
SIAM stated that the data presented in the letter still required verification through broader data collection. Therefore, the association decided to withdraw the letter.
Despite retracting the letter, SIAM did not deny the alleged contamination of E20 fuel. In a letter obtained by Reuters, the association mentioned that its members found an increase in damage to vehicle components, suspected to be caused by high chloride levels in the fuel.
SIAM also found that the water content in E20 fuel was higher than it should be. This condition is considered to potentially prevent vehicles from starting after refueling. Therefore, SIAM requested the government to tighten fuel quality control.
The Indian government denied allegations that E20 caused widespread vehicle problems. The Ministry of Petroleum stated that it only found two cases of chloride contamination out of approximately 2,000 fuel quality tests.
A senior government official, who wished to remain anonymous, said that concerns about E20 were largely fueled by information circulating on social media. According to him, there is no evidence to support these claims. (ARF)
This translation was generated by AI (Google Gemini) from Indonesian.