Emails Show Automakers Flagged E20 Fuel Contamination Before SIAM Withdrawal - Report

India's top auto industry body, The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, or SIAM, withdrew a fuel contamination complaint just days after the government publicly assured citizens that ethanol-blended petrol was safe, saying some of the figures it had cited needed further verification.

But internal communications reviewed by Reuters show that Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors and Mahindra privately raised E20 fuel contamination concerns in the days before that reversal, even as all three continued to publicly back the government's ethanol rollout.

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SIAM, had flagged the issue in a letter sent to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas on July 28. It withdrew the letter after the warning triggered a public and government uproar, saying some numbers required authentication and that the communication had been sent inadvertently.

Reuters claimed that emails and industry data show multiple automakers had already collected more than 250 fuel samples from pumps over a year, drawn from as many as 21 of India's 36 states and union territories. High chloride contamination turned up in samples from 18 of those states, alongside elevated moisture content. The executives' internal messages raised no concern about the reliability of that data.

When asked about the private emails, SIAM told Reuters the figures were meant only for internal circulation, discussion and validation, and had been collected by a small number of automakers. Maruti, Tata and Mahindra, all part of the internal exchange, together account for 67 percent of India's car market. SIAM said it now plans a proper scientific study.

Mahindra told Reuters that conclusions drawn from its executive's emails were completely baseless and incorrect, adding that industry data remains limited and preliminary and that it sees no issues with E20.

E20, petrol blended with 20 percent ethanol, has been rolled out nationwide since last year as part of the government's push to cut pollution and reduce oil imports. No other petrol grade has been available at pumps since April 1, and hundreds of motorists have alleged reduced mileage and increased wear and tear, a dispute that has triggered at least one court challenge.

SIAM's withdrawn letter had said high chloride levels corrode auto parts, while excessive moisture can immobilise a vehicle immediately after fuelling.Tabulated state-wise findings shared on those emails recorded chloride levels of 6 to 570 parts per million in Rajasthan, 1.4 to 420 ppm in Delhi and 10 to 357 ppm in Maharashtra, against a government permissible limit of 3 ppm. Moisture levels reached 13,000 ppm in Andhra Pradesh and 12,500 ppm in Uttar Pradesh, well above the 3,000 ppm benchmark.

SIAM's letter attributed the chloride rise to the E20 rollout and asked the government to direct oil marketing companies to trace the root cause. For moisture, it pointed to possible poor maintenance of underground storage tanks and pipelines at retail outlets.