Rage over E20 fuel was 'paid campaign': Gadkari

Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari. File

Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday (October 27, 2026) said the rage over blending 20% ethanol in petrol fuel was a "paid campaign".

The remark came a day after the government notified changes to the Central Motor Vehicles Rules 1989, allowing flex-fuel vehicles that can run on up to E100 (nearly pure ethanol).

Addressing an event organised by industry body CII, Mr. Gadkari further said India can save precious foreign exchange by reducing imports of fossil fuels. "Three months ago, huge noise (khub haala)) was made against the E20 (20 per cent ethanol-blended petrol) fuel; now rage against E20 fuel is over...It was a paid campaign," he said.

Mr. Gadkari noted that for the last three years, more than 20 crore two-wheelers and over 3 crore petrol cars have been operating on these blends (E19-20) fuels without any verified evidence of widespread engine failure or vehicle breakdown attributable to ethanol blending.

The rollout of E20 petrol (80% petrol, 20% ethanol) drew criticism from opposition parties and some consumer groups, who raised concerns about its impact on older vehicles not specifically designed for 20% ethanol blends.

In India, the Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme commenced with a pilot in 2001, and E5 was introduced in 2006. Although blending remained around 1.53% till 2013-14, it has since been increased progressively in a calibrated manner after creating the necessary production capacity, infrastructure and regulatory framework.

The Minster also said that taking note of complaints on social media about the poor condition of some highway stretches, he reviewed 700-800 projects recently. "I am not going to compromise on the quality of the highways," he said.

Mr. Gadkari assured that in the next two years, highway users won't face any inconvenience.

The Minister also said that travelling from Delhi to Haridwar would take 90 minutes once the highway project opens in the next two months.

He said the government's road infrastructure push was reducing travel time to religious destinations, increasing tourist traffic and creating employment opportunities.

Mr. Gadkari said 80-85% of the work of the Char Dham project has been completed and traffic to religious destinations in Uttarakhand has increased threefold.

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Explaining the economic impact of investment in infrastructure development, he said, "I always feel that infrastructure development is the backbone of the Indian economy. Even in the world, it is everywhere the backbone of their economy. If we are going to spend 100 rupees for infrastructure, the impact on the economy comes to 325 rupees. Their GDP is going to increase."

He said India's total highways network growth increased 1.6 times to 1.46 lakh km in 2026 from 91,287 km in 2014.

According to Mr. Gadkari, while the four-lane and above national highways network increased by 2.6 times to 49,160 km in 2026 from 18,278 km in 2014, the high-speed corridor network during the same period increased 12 times to 6,788 km.

The Minister also said that after tightening the bus body code, his ministry will also come up with a truck body code.

India / economy, business and finance / diesel fuel