I was, am, still am surprised to see this
E20 is an experiment !
From where are come from, experiments are done on smaller samples and in a controlled environment
How can an entire nation be the sample size for an experiment ??
Manufacturing takes heavy capital. Good machines cost a lot. Land costs so much that to make the numbers viable on paper, you leave the land cost out of project.
We had to grow. We needed more capacity. We had to integrate backward to control material. We had to integrate forward to add value. There was no other path.
So we spent big over the last two years. Some portion to fund long term came from short-term loans. Our working capital shrank.
Then raw material prices saw a major spike. We needed all the cash to stock up. But our cash flow would not let us do it. So margins shrank.
That is opportunity cost. It is not a choice between two good options.
Capacity without liquidity is a trap. Growth has to be funded right, or it slows you on the way up.
Cash rules the factory. Or anything in life.
Fwiw, I understand and appreciate the move to ethanol blends for fuel. Energy independence is an absolutely great goal to chase.
The only gripe is for those of us with older cars, and that begs the question why the proposed plan is E20/22/27/30/85?
Instead of simply: E10/20/30/85. Even if E10 comes at a vast premium, but is available widely pan India. XP100 is not the solution, for various technical reasons beyond price.
Why should @volkswagenindia take responsibility when the owner's manual explicitly warns against using E20?
The real villain is a ruthless policy shift. By wiping E5/E10 off the map, the government didn't just phase out fuel, they phased out consumer protection.
Millions of honest vehicle owners are being sacrificed, their engines ruined by mandatory fuel, all while corporate ethanol cronies and netas' sons line their pockets with green-energy subsidies. Absolute highway robbery.
#E20Scam