What happened

Team Bharat, a citizens’ advocacy group founded by political commentator Tehseen Poonawalla, met officials of the Union Petroleum Ministry and urged continued supply of E10 petrol—petrol blended with 10% ethanol meant for vehicles designed for E10—while concerns increased around E20 fuel—petrol blended with 20% ethanol.

Team Bharat met Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Puri and presented the following requests on ethanol-blended petrol policy:

Continuation of E10 supply for vehicles designed to use E10.Availability of pure petrol (petrol with no ethanol blending) at all fuel stations at affordable prices.Pricing demand: E20 should be offered at a 20% discount relative to pure petrol.Transparency demand: public availability of “relevant documents and reports on E20”.Implementation safeguards: a mechanism and rules to assess whether vehicles were damaged due to blended fuel, including procedures for handling grievances.Team Bharat stated it was not calling for a full rollback of E20 and instead sought a “middle ground.”

Team Bharat raised allegations of a possible conflict of interest involving Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari connected to the blending programme and requested comments from the Union Petroleum Ministry. Sources indicated that an inspection mechanism for allegedly damaged vehicles would be discussed in the next meeting between Team Bharat and officials of the Union Petroleum Ministry.

Background and earlier position

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