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The government and oil marketing companies are actively examining whether E10 petrol can be offered to older vehicles alongside E20, with BPCL saying existing infrastructure can handle the lower ethanol blend, even as supply-chain complexities of selling two mass-market petrol grades simultaneously are being worked out.
“There could be an option being explored: can we have an E10 fuel for the older vehicle, which is what is being pursued right now,” Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) Chairman and Managing Director Sanjay Khanna told reporters on Thursday. He, however, made clear that the discussions do not envisage replacing E20.
“I never meant that E20 will be changed to E10,” Khanna said. Issues under consideration include availability of supplies and whether OMCs can simultaneously handle another grade of motor spirit. “Those challenges are there and they are being debated. They are being worked out right now,” he said.
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Khanna said no final decision has been taken. If the issue were merely switching a facility from E20 to E10, BPCL does not expect an infrastructure constraint. “As of now, various aspects are being considered, but nothing has got yet finalised,” he said.
The distinction is significant. While existing infrastructure can handle a change in ethanol concentration, supplying E10 and E20 simultaneously at scale would require managing two petrol streams through the fuel-distribution system. The government had earlier said maintaining parallel supplies of E0, E10 and E20 across more than one lakh retail outlets would increase logistics complexity, inventory and handling costs.
The deliberations gained momentum after Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran backed restoring a lower-blend option alongside E20, particularly for older vehicles. India achieved 20% ethanol blending last year, five years ahead of the original deadline, while petrol consumption stood at about 43 million tonnes in the last financial year.
Separately, BPCL said its crude and LPG supplies are currently “in a safe place” after diversifying sourcing, though geopolitical conditions remain volatile.
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BPCL has completed crude procurement for September and has already tied up around 50% of its October requirement. About 60% of its current crude requirement is being procured on the spot market, with shortages in term supplies being covered through spot cargoes.
The refiner has also secured its first Iraqi crude cargo of FY27, a roughly one-million-barrel parcel that has crossed Hormuz and is being moved to Fujairah for ship-to-ship transfer. BPCL said it would explore more such cargoes where insurance, vessel availability and economics permit.
TOPICSBPCLThis article was first uploaded on August twenty-eight, twenty twenty-six, at thirty-one minutes past one in the night. © The Indian Express (P) Ltd