Photo credit: PTINEW DELHI: Seeking to allay public fears over ethanol-blended fuel, petroleum minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Thursday said a “make-believe” narrative had been unleashed on social media over the past few days.Addressing a press conference, the minister said the reduction in mileage of an E20-fuelled vehicle is “minor”. “It is well established that when you have ethanol in a vehicle, which they use in racing cars also, the acceleration increases, and knocking improves. Mileage may drop a little, but it can happen because of many other reasons also,” he said. Puri added that insurance companies had also issued clarifications regarding vehicle coverage.Puri said his ministry had compiled a 15-page note tracing the journey of ethanol blending, listing the countries where it is practised. The note will also answer people’s concerns.The note stated that “misleading videos, selectively edited clips and sensational social media posts” were being circulated with the objective of “creating fear amongst vehicle owners” regarding the use of E20 fuel. “Many such contents appear to rely on unverified claims, selective presentation of facts and click-bait headlines designed primarily to generate online viewership,” the note said.Puri said India adopted 20 per cent ethanol blending in petrol after consulting all stakeholders, including SIAM and ARAI, and would move to 25 per cent blending only after completing all necessary tests.“There is enough space in the growing Indian consumer market for all systems to co-exist — electric, biofuel-mixed, hybrid and CNG,” Puri said.The minister said the concept of ethanol blending was not new and prominent car maker Henry Ford called it the “fuel of the future”. He added that the blending programme in India started in 2008 under the then govt with a target of 10 per cent blending.