Thank You, Minister Gadkari

E20 Backfires: How India's Ethanol Fumble Accidentally Fueled The EV, CNG Boom

By Govindraj Ethiraj

Thank you Mr Gadkari.

New Delhi’s botched rollout of ethanol-blended petrol is driving consumers to alternative fuels, achieving the right goal for the wrong reasons.

For many months, a dark cloud of consumer suspicion has hung over India’s vehicle owners. 

The culprit is E20, petrol blended with 20% ethanol. 

The government’s intentions, naturally, were noble. India imports roughly 90% of its crude oil, a massive economic vulnerability. 

Blending petrol with domestically produced ethanol, distilled from crops like sugarcane, corn, and wheat, was billed as a silver bullet to slash the import bill and green the economy.

But drivers haven’t been buying the government's assurances. 

Buyers Flee to Alternatives

A steady stream of social media reports including videos depicting damaged engine parts has documented a litany of glitches in cars and two-wheelers running on the E20 blend.

The panic has proven impervious to government counter-claims.

It has not helped that the auto industry itself has offered a masterclass in mixed messaging. 

Most recently, for instance, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) which represents major auto makers highlighted E20 problems in a report that made it to public domain, only to hastily backtrack.

Now, the numbers are in, and Indian consumers are doing what they do best when faced with a flawed government mandate. They are voting with their wallets.

While overall auto sales across categories logged another blowout month in July, petrol vehicle sales have hit a wall. 

Over the past year, petrol cars’ share of the passenger vehicle market has plunged from roughly 48% to 42%. 

Where are those buyers going? Well, to the alternatives. 

The market share for compressed natural gas (CNG), hybrids, and electric vehicles has surged to 40.6%, barely a percentage point shy of petrol.

Meanwhile, the share of diesel vehicles has held steady at just under 18%, despite the government paring back diesel subsidies almost a decade ago.

Why? 

Because diesel does not blend with ethanol. 

For the anxious Indian motorist, diesel has become a "pure" safe haven of sorts though there is no substitute for heavy commercial vehicles which run only on diesel. (The Government is testing diesel blended with isobutanol, but that looming headache is a story for another day.)

Failure Fuels The Right Result

The panic at the dealership level is palpable. 

Sai Giridhar, Vice President of the Federation of Automobile Dealers Association, representing over 15,000 dealerships and 30,000 outlets, told The Core Report that despite erecting posters and aggressively counseling buyers on the safety of E20, consumer apprehension is not going away.

Here is where the ironies of public policy compound. 

India’s Government set out to reduce the nation’s dependence on fossil fuels by forcing drivers to adopt an ethanol blend. 

By poorly managing the rollout and the public relations surrounding it, the government only succeeded in terrifying the motoring public. 

But in doing so, it has accelerated a migration toward entirely different alternative fuels. At this pace, it is possible that CNG, hybrids, and EVs will overtake petrol outright in a matter of months.

The state achieved its objective, albeit in a somewhat backward fashion.

In a final stroke of political irony, the E20 fiasco has somehow been hung entirely around the neck of Nitin Gadkari, India’s roads minister, rather than the energy minister whose portfolio actually dictates fuel production and distribution. 

Gadkari’s image has taken a beating in the court of public opinion. 

But given that his ethanol crusade has inadvertently turbocharged the adoption of alternative vehicles, perhaps we do owe the minister a debt of gratitude.

Because in the often messy world of public policy, outcomes often matter more than the competence of the effort.

Building Wealth For A Longer Life

Longer lives. Rising costs. Market volatility. Uncertain returns.

The assumptions that once shaped retirement planning are being challenged, and the rules of long-term wealth creation are changing with them.

The Core, in partnership with Spotify Unlock, invites a select group of senior leaders, founders and investors to a closed-door conversation on Building Wealth for a Longer Life, led by Saurabh Mukherjea, Founder & CIO, Marcellus Investment Managers.

August 25, 2026 | 8:30 AM | Late Checkout

Limited seats. By invitation only.

How Jennifer Aniston’s LolaVie brand grew sales 40% with CTV ads

For its first CTV campaign, Jennifer Aniston’s DTC haircare brand LolaVie had a few non-negotiables. The campaign had to be simple. It had to demonstrate measurable impact. And it had to be full-funnel.

LolaVie used Roku Ads Manager to test and optimize creatives — reaching millions of potential customers at all stages of their purchase journeys. Roku Ads Manager helped the brand convey LolaVie’s playful voice while helping drive omnichannel sales across both ecommerce and retail touchpoints.

The campaign included an Action Ad overlay that let viewers shop directly from their TVs by clicking OK on their Roku remote. This guided them to the website to buy LolaVie products.

Discover how Roku Ads Manager helped LolaVie drive big sales and customer growth with self-serve TV ads.

The DTC beauty category is crowded. To break through, Jennifer Aniston’s brand LolaVie, worked with Roku Ads Manager to easily set up, test, and optimize CTV ad creatives. The campaign helped drive a big lift in sales and customer growth, helping LolaVie break through in the crowded beauty category.

Learn more.

Rs 1.43 lakh crore

That’s how much the combined market capitalisation of four of India’s 10 most-valued companies increased last week. 

Origin: Analysts said investors navigated the RBI’s monetary policy decision, the rollout of the new Closing Auction Session framework for F&O stocks, and lingering geopolitical uncertainty. 

Top gainers:

• State Bank of India: Added Rs 63,922 crore in market value

• Reliance Industries: Added Rs 32,816 crore

• Tata Consultancy Services: Added Rs 31,875 crore

• Larsen & Toubro: Added Rs 14,638 crore

Top laggards:

• Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC): Lost Rs 40,543 crore in market value

• Bajaj Finance: Lost Rs 37,169 crore

• HDFC Bank: Lost Rs 24,183 crore

• ICICI Bank: Lost Rs 9,508 crore

• Bharti Airtel: Lost Rs 7,582 crore

• Hindustan Unilever: Lost Rs 4,793 crore

What This Means Going Forward: Markets may remain sensitive to geopolitical developments, global risk sentiment and foreign investor flows. Investors will also track how companies perform through the June-quarter earnings season and whether domestic buying can offset continued global uncertainty.

Hormuz Deal Close, Conditions Remain

Iran said Sunday that a deal with Oman on new shipping lanes through the Strait of Hormuz is nearing completion, though Tehran insists the waterway will stay closed until Washington meets further demands. Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said no direct US-Iran talks are underway, with messages passing through intermediaries instead, Reuters reported.

Catch Up Quick: Iran reportedly wants US compensation for recent strikes, an end to sanctions, release of frozen assets, and a halt to threats against Tehran and its regional allies before reopening the strait, which handles roughly a fifth of global oil and LNG shipments. The UAE separately accused Iran of attacking a tanker linked to its state oil firm.

Setup: Meanwhile, Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis struck Saudi Aramco's Jazan refinery, sparking a fire that was later extinguished, days after Saudi Arabia signed a defense pact with Turkey and Pakistan, Reuters reported.

Flight Safety Slips

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) recorded 889 serious technical defects in 2025, up 28% from 692 in 2024, according to data the Civil Aviation Ministry shared in Parliament. The regulator recorded 487 defects in 2023, 528 in 2022 and 514 in 2021.

The Lead: The DGCA also took action in 42 cases involving safety violations by airlines and maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) companies in 2025, up from 31 cases in 2024 and 24 in 2023.

The regulator uses regulatory audits, night surveillance, ramp inspections, spot checks and special audits to monitor safety compliance across airlines and airports.

Turning Point: The latest figures come as Indian aviation faces heightened scrutiny following the June 2025 Air India crash and a series of operational disruptions. They also point to the growing safety workload facing the DGCA as airlines expand their fleets and operations, a topic The Core has extensively covered before.

Silver Gets Hallmark Push

Rising gold prices are pushing more Indian jewellery buyers towards silver, prompting the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) to expand its silver hallmarking and testing infrastructure.

The Lead: BIS plans to scale up silver jewellery testing at its laboratories and expand its network of referral and assaying laboratories across the country over the next two years. The move comes as demand for hallmarked silver rises sharply. The number of hallmarked silver articles nearly doubled from 3.2 million in FY2024-25 to 5.9 million in FY2025-26.

Context: Silver hallmarking has been voluntary in India since 2005. Since September 2025, hallmarked silver jewellery has also carried a Hallmark Unique Identification (HUID) number, allowing consumers to verify an item's purity.

BIS currently has around 230 recognised Assaying and Hallmarking Centres. It is also exploring technologies such as artificial intelligence and robotics to speed up testing as silver gains popularity as a more affordable alternative to gold.

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