Union Govt Seeks To Ease Public Backlash Over E-20 Experiment

India's government on Friday ?sought to contain a growing backlash against its mandatory use of 20% ethanol-blended petrol, as citizens are ?unhappy about lower fuel efficiency and vehicle performance planned a protest against the policy. 

The mandate to use the blend, called E20, came into force last year but is now one of the biggest political flashpoints for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government and motorists in the world's third-biggest car market.

The ?controversy



intensified this week after Attorney General R. Venkataramani told a court hearing that E20 was an "experiment" whose ?results would only come out next year. 

The government denied the remark was ever made, but ?video of the court hearing showing Venkataramani saying the words has since gone viral on social media. 

Venkataramani told Reuters on ?Friday he used the term "experiment" in the context of the volume of ethanol supplies, not the ethanol petrol policy itself.