E20 is safe, ethanol programme key to energy security and farmer income, says Toyota’s Vikram Gulati

NEW DELHI: India’s ethanol programme will play an even bigger role in addressing energy security, agrarian distress and climate goals in the coming years, with E20 set to become the standard fuel compatible with all vehicles sold after April 2023, according to Vikram Gulati, Country Head and Executive Vice President, Corporate Affairs and Governance, Toyota Kirloskar Motor.

Gulati said the focus now should be on clearing consumer misconceptions and scaling ethanol as a carbon-neutral fuel. “E20 is the standard fuel that will be available and it is compatible with old vehicles and new vehicles,” he said, adding that all vehicles sold after 1st April 2023 are fully materially compliant with E20. He also clarified that higher blends like E85 and E100 are not meant for regular cars and will require flex-fuel vehicle technology.

Gulati traced the origins of the ethanol programme to India’s structural energy deficit. “India has always been energy-deficient. We import huge amounts of crude, which has a very negative impact on our economy. It also has a negative impact on the environment and also we are susceptible to any disruption in supply”, he said, citing the recent crisis triggered by the West Asia situation as an example.

#WATCH | Delhi: On ethanol, Vikram Gulati, Country Head and Executive Vice President (Corporate Affairs and Governance) of Toyota Kirloskar Motor, says, “Every vehicle sold in the country after 2023 is E20-compliant. Even vehicles from before 2023 can run on E20 without any… https://t.co/HoGNOpOgGI pic.twitter.com/XGyQ9V26gV

— ANI (@ANI) July 3, 2026

He said the programme picked up momentum after 2018 when the government linked it to solving farm distress. “Farmers will produce sugarcane, farmers will produce rice… when you produce this in excess, it’s going waste”, he noted. Rather than spending taxpayer money to export surplus sugar, the government chose to promote ethanol from molasses and excess foodgrains.

The impact, he said, has been significant. “The programme so far has helped save 1.9 trillion rupees. From that Rs1,60,000 crore has gone to farmers”. Gulati added that farmer incomes have gone up across states including Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, and in areas where sugarcane is grown widely.

On environmental benefits, Gulati called ethanol “the best fuel if you want to fight climate change” because it is carbon neutral. “Carbon dioxide is absorbed by plants when they grow. And when you make this into fuel and burn it, the carbon dioxide that comes out is actually absorbed back by the plants”.

Addressing myths around ethanol-blended petrol, Gulati said there is widespread misunderstanding. He said the idea that E20 will damage vehicles is false. Citing a 2021 study by ARAI, India’s leading automobile testing agency, he said it “clearly established that the possible damage to cars and two wheelers which are old is not there. It is very insignificant”.

On mileage, he acknowledged there is some loss but “it is not so big as it being made out to be”, pegging it at 2-4 per cent. He also dismissed concerns about pollution from ethanol plants, saying all Indian plants require environment clearances, operate as zero-effluent units, and reuse by-products like bagasse, making them “extremely clean in terms of their processes”. (ANI)