When Gadkari Said Ethanol Blended Petrol Will Cost Rs. 15 Per Liter: Old Video Goes Viral

 When Gadkari Said Ethanol Blended Petrol Will Cost Rs. 15 Per Liter: Old Video Goes Viral

Written By: Neeraj Padmakumar

Published: August 30, 2025 at 07:15 AM

Updated: August 30, 2025 at 07:15 AM

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The rollout of E20 petrol (a blend of 80% petrol and 20% Ethanol) has set the internet talking. Discussions and debates over it are active on various social media platforms. People actively consume every piece of content around the topic. This has led to many old videos resurfacing in the past few days. One such video shows Union Minister Nitin Gadkari making a tall claim in 2023. The exact occasion/ event in which he made this statement remains unclear, but the video is being actively circulated among netizens.

The Video

The video shows Gadkari talking about petrol prices. He says, “ The petrol that you buy for Rs 120, we will make it available for Rs 15. The average (mileage) that you get from the Rs 120 petrol, you will get from Rs 15 Ethanol blended petrol.” Clearly, he was talking in favour of ethanol-blended fuel.

It, however, remains unclear if the blend being talked about here was E10 or E20. India started rolling out E10 petrol (a blend of 10% Ethanol and 90% petrol) in mid-2022. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched E20 petrol in 2023, with the full rollout set to happen in the years that followed.

e20 petrol ethanol blended

The minister’s claim of bringing down the price of petrol to Rs 15 instantly got people talking. Back then, petrol prices were shooting up, and getting the same at Rs 15 was indeed lucrative.

Speaking at a different event in July 2023, Gadkari said “Our government believes that farmers should not only be ‘annadata’ (food providers) but also ‘urjadata’ (energy providers)… all vehicles will now run on ethanol produced by farmers. If we consider an average blend of 60% ethanol and 40% electricity, petrol will be available at the rate of ₹ 15 per litre, benefiting the people”. We have talked in detail about this statement in one of our previous stories.

Claims Made In The Video: What Happens To Them?

The (first) video has him making claims about the ‘averages’ that you get from pure and blended petrols. Today, with Ethanol-blended petrol hitting complete rollout, we see people reporting notable drops in mileage.

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Even Gadkari took a U-turn recently and admitted that the use of blended petrol will result in a slight drop in fuel efficiency. He was speaking at Business Today's ‘BT India@100 Summit’ when he made the statement that the use of E20 petrol can bring about a slight dip in mileage. This is due to Ethanol’s lower energy density.

e20 ethanol blended petrol

Now comes the other claim- of bringing down the petrol prices. Unfortunately, in most cities, E20 fuel is sold at the same price as the (previous) E10 blend. This deprives users of any significant savings and forces them to use a blend with a lower calorific value than what they were using previously.

At the manufacturer's end, blended fuel (E20) is much cheaper than pure petrol. This price difference is absent in the pump prices. NITI Ayog had recommended a proportionate reduction in pump prices of E20 petrol in one of its reports from 2021. It even proposed considering tax breaks for E20 users.

niti ayog on e20 petrol price

The report said “For better acceptability of higher ethanol blends in the country, retail price of such fuels should be lower than normal petrol to compensate for the reduction in calorific value and incentivize switching to the blended fuel. Tax breaks on ethanol as a fuel may be considered by the government.”

Sadly, the government is yet to revise the prices of E20 petrol in India, and make them more accessible for users. A survey conducted by LocalCircles, further revealed that 52% of respondents were willing to support E20 if the prices were reduced and if they were offered the choice of multiple blends. This, further shows how critical a lower price point is for E20 to rise into acceptance.

"Petrol Will Be Sold At Rs 15 Per Litre If...": What Minister Nitin Gadkari SaidNitin Gadkari also said that such a mixture would also reduce pollution and imports.

Edited by:

Amit Chaturvedi

India News

Jul 06, 2023 00:27 am IST

Published On

Jul 05, 2023 16:56 pm IST

Last Updated On

Jul 06, 2023 00:27 am IST

Read Time:

2 mins

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Union minister Nitin Gadkari was addressing a rally in Rajasthan's Pratapgarh.

Union minister Nitin Gadkari said on Tuesday made an innovative proposal to reduce the price of petrol to Rs 15 per litre. During a rally in Rajasthan's Pratapgarh, Mr Gadkari shared his vision of empowering farmers across the country to become "urjadaata" (energy providers). He said the price of petrol will be reduced if we take a blend of 60 per cent ethanol and 40 per cent electricity. During his address, the minister emphasised on the advantages of utilising a blend of ethanol and electricity.

"Our government is of the mindset that the farmers become not only 'annadata' but also 'urjadata'... all the vehicles will now run on ethanol produced by farmers. If an average of 60% ethanol and 40% electricity is taken then petrol will be available at the rate of Rs 15 per litre and the people will be benefitted," news agency ANI quoted Mr Gadkari as saying.

He further highlighted that such a mixture would not only reduce pollution and imports but also redirect the massive import expenditure of Rs 16 lakh crore towards the farmers' households.

On the same day, Mr Gadkari inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of 11 national highway projects totalling Rs 5,600 crore in Pratapgarh.

Four national highway projects with a total length of 219 km and cost of Rs 3,775 crore were also inaugurated.

Among them is a six-lane section from Kishangarh to the Gulbapura on National Highway 48 to improve connectivity to Ajmer and Bhilwara districts.

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In Rajasthan, an approval of 74 projects under Central Roads Fund at a cost of Rs 2,250 crore was also announced during this programme.