A diplomatic row has broken out between the editor of newspaper, The Bhutanese, and India's petroleum ministry over the alleged export of ethanol petrol fuel to Bhutan.
The editor Tenzing Lamsang stood by his story that during technical meetings, Bhutanese officials had to proactively request India to continue supplying conventional petrol. Bhutan, he alleged rejected E20 because Bhutan's existing underground storage tanks cannot handle ethanol's hygroscopic nature (its tendency to absorb water and degrade fuel quality).
However, India’s petroleum ministry has categorically denied the report, calling it "incorrect". The ministry stated that no OMC ever made an offer to supply E20 to Bhutan, and no formal export proposal ever existed.
This row comes at a time when India's domestic E20 rollout is currently under heavy scrutiny regarding vehicle compatibility and mileage drops. The ministry moved aggressively to debunk the story to prevent domestic critics from using Bhutan’s concerns over E20 as political leverage.
Editor's post
Tenzing Lamsang, the editor of The Bhutanese took to X to post saying that since there is an official denial, he was posting the written response by the department of trade of the Bhutanese government confirming to him an offer was made by Indian OMCs and the department requested the OMCs to supply normal petrol.
The document explicitly begins by stating that Bhutan is “not importing E-20 petrol fuel” from India at this time.
Why conventional petrol is better
The text shared by Lamsang highlighted the official reasoning for why conventional petrol is being prioritised over ethanol blends.
Firstly, it spoke of the hygroscopic risk. The document stressed that because ethanol is highly hygroscopic (it readily absorbs moisture and water from the surrounding environment), there is a significant risk of water contamination. In Bhutan’s mountainous terrain, this moisture intrusion would severely degrade fuel quality and compromise vehicle performance.
It noted that Bhutan's existing underground storage tanks and supply-chain systems are currently incompatible with handling ethanol-blended fuels safely without a complete overhaul.
Key request
The key paragraph of the department of trade's response said that "in view of these concerns, the Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs)/OMCs in India were requested during technical meetings to continue supplying normal MS (motor spirit/petrol) for Bhutan as long as such fuel remains available in the Indian market."
Furthermore, the document noted that Bhutan has requested advance notice from India before any eventual, unavoidable transition to higher ethanol blends takes place since local fuel dealers needed adequate time to upgrade their storage infrastructure and fuel handling systems.
'No formal offer'
While Lamsang presented this text on X as proof that an offer was being pushed which Bhutan had to actively resist, Indian government officials pointed out that the document does not explicitly use the words "formal offer" or "proposal".
This is why India's ministry of petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) has maintained its stance that from New Delhi's perspective, discussions during routine "technical meetings" about shifting fuel standards do not equate to a formalised export proposal.
