The Punjab Vidhan Sabha on Tuesday unanimously passed a resolution opposing the Centre’s nationwide E20 petrol policy. The House urged the Union Government to suspend the mandatory rollout for vehicles not originally designed or certified for the higher ethanol blend until concerns over compatibility, consumer protection and state-specific impacts were addressed.The resolution, tabled by Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema during the ongoing monsoon session, coincided with the Aam Aadmi Party’s protest in Delhi over the issue.While tabling the resolution, Cheema said consumers should be given the option to choose between ethanol-free petrol and E20 petrol. “Owners of vehicles not designed to run on E20 fuel should not be compelled to buy it. Vehicle owners complain that repairing vehicles damaged by blended petrol costs anything between Rs 25,000 and Rs 50,000. There is little doubt that the fuel rollout has been advanced from 2030 to 2026 under pressure from global ethanol-producing conglomerates. The states should have been consulted before the ethanol-blending policy was approved,” he said.Among its other recommendations, the Assembly urged the Centre to ensure that the retail price of E20 petrol reflects its comparatively lower calorific value and reduced fuel efficiency so that consumers are not made to pay the same price for a fuel delivering lower mileage. It also sought the constitution of an independent committee comprising automobile engineers, petroleum experts, environmental scientists, consumer organisations and representatives of state governments to undertake a comprehensive assessment of the E20 impact on vehicle compatibility, fuel efficiency, maintenance costs, consumer finances, environment implications and state-specific concerns.Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, while speaking on the issue, said a citizen awareness group, Local Circle, studied the effect of the E20 fuel on 45,000 vehicles and found that it impacted the mileage of 67 per cent vehicles and caused damage to engines of 45 per cent vehicles.“Does the BJP-led Central Government want to convert 30 lakh vehicles into scrap? The Centre has admitted in Parliament that the use of blended petrol reduces mileage by 6 per cent. Why is Prime Minister Narendra Modi pursuing it then? Certainly not to benefit Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari’s son, with whom the PM does not enjoy a cosy relationship,” he said.“Initially, the E20-blended petrol was to be used from 2030. Why has its use been advanced? It is being done under the US government pressure as part of the Indo-US trade deal, under which five billion litres of ethanol, worth $20 billion, is to be bought by India,” he said.“God only knows what file or CD the US President has against Modi, which is making the PM bend backwards to please him, with no consideration on how it will impact the common man here,” he said, lamenting that the E20 fuel was being used on E10-compliant vehicles, and poor vehicle owners would be hit.The resolution approved by the House will be sent to the President, Prime Minister, Union Petroleum Minister, Union Road Transport Minister, Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister and the Vice-Chairman of Niti Aayog.Earlier, Congress MLA Avtar Henry Junior said he supported the resolution as ethanol was harming the environment. “As much as 10,800-litre water is required to make 1 litre of ethanol. I urge that the discussion on the resolution be deferred by a day, so that we get some time to study the issue and then discuss it here,” he said. Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan, however, declined to defer the debate. As Henry later debated the issue, he also demanded that the state government lower the VAT charged on the sale of retail fuel to give some relief to the consumers.Congress MLA Rana Gurjit Singh, whose family owns a sugar mill and an ethanol manufacturing unit, demanded that he should also be allowed to speak on the issue. The Speaker relented, following which the Kapurthala MLA said the House should not be misled. “Since paddy rots in godowns, diverting it to ethanol manufacturing will be a better utilisation of the crop,” he said.The youngest MLA in the House, AAP’s Inshank Chabbewal, said use of the E20 fuel was recommended without assessing the long-term or short-term impact on the common man. “Vehicles are getting damaged. The reason given for petrol blending by the Centre was that it will help reduce the price of fuel. However, petrol is getting expensive by the day,” he said.