Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal announced on Monday that the party will hold a National Town Hall against E20 in New Delhi on August 1 as part of its campaign against ethanol-blended petrol. Speaking in a video released on social media, Kejriwal said the event will take place at the Constitution Club of India and intends to bring together technical experts, vehicle owners, and the public to deliberate on the impact of E20 fuel.
The AAP leader said that the gathering would also focus on building public pressure on the Centre to reconsider its decision and withdraw the mandatory rollout of E20 petrol. Kejriwal urged citizens affected by the fuel policy, along with specialists familiar with the issue, to participate in the discussion and contribute to the campaign. People can also join the townhall virtually by sending a message to 8588833212, Kejriwal said.
“We are inviting people to join in large numbers this platform where we will discuss how to create pressure on the central government to withdraw the E20 petrol. Experts and people who have faced problems with their vehicles, all are invited,” he said.
AAP’s online petition against E20 fuel
Kejriwal also said that AAP’s online petition seeking to make E20 fuel optional has garnered more than two lakh signatures. He plans to submit the petition to Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the town hall meeting, while appealing to the Centre to address public concerns before the issue escalates into a broader nationwide movement.
Referring to the recent political developments surrounding the controversy, Kejriwal claimed that sustained public pressure, particularly from young people, had compelled the government to reverse its stance, ultimately leading to the resignation of Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
Government’s claims regarding E20
The blending programme carries real fiscal weight. According to a written reply by Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Suresh Gopi in the Lok Sabha this week, the Ethanol Blended Petrol Programme has saved over ₹1.97 lakh crore in foreign exchange since 2014-15, substituting nearly 316 lakh metric tonnes of crude oil and cutting an estimated 952 lakh metric tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. The programme has also routed more than ₹1.66 lakh crore directly to farmers over the same period.
India reached the 20 percent blending mark between November 2025 and June 2026, five years ahead of the original 2030 target, up from roughly 12 percent in 2022-23. Gadkari separately told the Lok SabZha that sugarcane, maize and other feedstock suppliers have earned around ₹40,000 crore through the programme, framing it as a direct rural income transfer as much as an energy policy.
The government maintains there is no verified evidence of engine damage, citing field trials by NITI Aayog, the Automotive Research Association of India and the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, and pointing to over 20 crore two-wheelers and three crore petrol cars that have run on the blend without documented failures.
Regarding mileage, independent estimates cited in recent government clarifications put the real-world dip at roughly 3 to 5 percent, or about 0.6 km per litre for a car rated at 20 km per litre. The government also flagged E20’s higher octane rating (around 108.5 versus 84.4 for pure petrol) as a partial offset in combustion efficiency.
Gadkari has also had to address a recurring conflict-of-interest allegation tied to his family’s sugar business, which he says is run by his sons and has no bearing on ethanol pricing, a decision that sits with the Union Cabinet, not the Road Transport Ministry.
Unlike the CJP-led paper-leak protests, which drew genuinely non-partisan youth participation, the E20 townhall carries Kejriwal’s and AAP’s direct political imprint. That makes it an open question whether it draws anywhere close to the same scale of crowd and enthusiasm.