India's Rush Leela is outrunning its preparedness. E20 and CBSE prove why

India's reform engine seems to be running at full throttle. But the problem is the road hasn't been built yet. E20 petrol and the three-language policy show the gap between policy ambition and implementation.

Reforming fast makes for good headlines. But good policies can also fail for that very reason. When a blueprint is enforced before the groundwork is in place, it becomes a recipe for disaster, no matter how sound the idea. That's exactly what's happening in India right now.

Two policies, in particular, have become the subject of intense public and political debate. One concerns the transition to E20 petrol, while the other centres on the CBSE's three-language policy. Both the policies are inherently good.

E20 petrol promises lower emissions and reduced dependence on imported crude. Granted.

A stronger emphasis on Indian languages is meant to preserve linguistic diversity while implementing the National Education Policy. Fair enough.

Yet, as one reform after another gathers pace, a big question is beginning to surface. Is India trying to run before it has learned to walk?

India has seen a series of major policy reforms over the past decade across sectors such as education, energy, infrastructure and welfare. Many of these initiatives have been presented by the government as part of its broader Viksit Bharat 2047 vision, a roadmap that aims to make India a developed nation by the centenary of Independence.

On paper, many of these initiatives seek to address long-standing challenges. In practice, however, we are unprepared. As of 2024 data, more than 80% of petrol vehicles on Indian roads are not compatible with E20 fuel. Meanwhile, the three-language policy faces an even more basic hurdle — in many places, there aren't enough teachers, textbooks or the supporting infrastructure to make it work.

If this pattern needed a name, it could be called "Rush Leela". The tendency to prioritise speed over preparedness in policy implementation.

The concern is not with reform itself, but with the tendency to compress timelines, forcing citizens, industries and institutions to adjust after policies have already begun taking effect.

CBSE'S BLUEPRINT CAME BEFORE THE PLAYBOOK

The CBSE's rollout of the three-language policy is perhaps the clearest example of what happens when a reform is announced before the basics are in place.

The three-language framework of the National Education Policy (NEP) has required multiple rounds of clarification within weeks of its announcement.

The policy itself is rooted in the NEP's vision of multilingual education and a stronger emphasis on Indian languages.

Few would dispute the value of promoting linguistic diversity. But the way the transition has unfolded has highlighted the complexity of implementing reforms across a system that serves nearly 30 million students in more than 30,000 CBSE-affiliated schools.

Since announcing the framework, the board has repeatedly clarified how the rules apply to different batches of students, which language combinations are permitted, whether existing students qualify for exemptions, how schools are expected to arrange teachers, what happens if a student fails the third-language assessment, and how children moving between states will be accommodated.

Each clarification has answered legitimate questions. At the same time, each has highlighted how many operational details remained unresolved when the policy was first rolled out.

The July circular, in particular, reads less like a standalone policy document and more like a living manual that responds to questions raised by schools after implementation had already begun.

For parents, students and school administrators, that has meant interpreting the policy through a series of follow-up clarifications rather than relying on a single, settled framework.

"If you want us to develop a love for native Indian languages, give our children a real choice," journalist and Supreme Court petitioner Nidhi Sharma said in a quote cited by Bloomberg Opinion columnist Andy Mukherjee.

In fact, while hearing the challenge to the CBSE's three-language policy, the Supreme Court raised a question, that if English has been spoken in India for over 300 years and serves as an official language in several states, should it still be treated as a "non-native" language?

On Thursday, the Supreme Court criticised the introduction of a third language in Class 9. Justice B V Nagarathna called the move "very bad" because students already face significant academic pressure as they prepare for Class 10 board exams.

Education is hardly the only sector where ambitious timelines have collided with on-ground readiness.

THE FUEL RAN AHEAD OF THE VEHICLES

Today, India's ethanol blending programme has become one of the country's flagship energy initiatives.

The objective is strategically significant — reduce oil imports, support farmers, diversify fuel sources and cut emissions. The government has consistently advanced its blending targets ahead of schedule, achieving 20% blending five years earlier than initially planned.

Yet, the rapid pace has produced friction across quarters.

As recently as 2024, industry estimates suggested that nearly 80% of vehicles on Indian roads were not certified as E20-compatible, meaning owners remained uncertain about the long-term impact of higher ethanol blends on engines, fuel efficiency and maintenance. Automobile manufacturers repeatedly sought greater clarity on compatibility standards, while consumer groups questioned whether vehicle owners were effectively becoming participants in a nationwide transition before the ecosystem had fully adapted.

Even the Attorney General told the Supreme Court that ethanol blending (E20) is still an "experiment", with full results expected by next year. The remark came during a Supreme Court hearing on June 30, in a case involving BPCL and other OMCs.

Ironically, India's ethanol production has expanded so rapidly that the country now has a notional surplus capacity of approximately 700 crore litres even as debates over domestic compatibility continue. India is now reportedly exploring export opportunities for this surplus ethanol.

GOOD REFORMS NEED GOOD GROUNDWORK

Neither of the developments necessarily indicates policy failure. But together they illustrate a pattern: production capacity has advanced faster than consumer readiness.

Such implementation gaps are hardly unique to India. Large-scale reforms anywhere require course correction. The difference lies in sequencing.

Successful policy transitions generally spend years aligning regulations, infrastructure, public awareness and institutional capacity before the majority of citizens are directly affected. In contrast, compressed timelines often shift the burden of adjustment onto end users.

If we have a look at Brazil, widely regarded as a global leader in ethanol blending, it has been progressively experimenting with and scaling up ethanol use in its fuel mix since the 1970s, following the launch of its National Alcohol Programme (Pro-Alcool).

Over more than five decades, the country has iteratively developed flex-fuel vehicle technology, built dedicated infrastructure, adapted sugarcane supply chains, and refined policy incentives, allowing for a more gradual adaptation by manufacturers, consumers, and the broader ecosystem.

In education, that burden falls on students and teachers.

Schools now have to identify language teachers for subjects that might previously have had little or no demand. CBSE itself has acknowledged this challenge by permitting schools to rely on retired teachers, digital classes, neighbouring schools and hybrid teaching arrangements.

Those are practical solutions. But they are also acknowledgements that the necessary teaching ecosystem does not yet exist everywhere.

The broader lesson extends beyond these two policies.

India is a country of extraordinary diversity and scale. A reform affecting fuel standards reaches well over 300 million registered vehicles. A change in school curriculum eventually affects tens of millions of children. Even small ambiguities become magnified when multiplied across such populations.

This is why phased implementation often proves more valuable than accelerated implementation.

A gradual rollout allows governments to identify unforeseen challenges through pilot programmes rather than nationwide corrections. It gives manufacturers time to redesign products, schools time to recruit teachers, regulators time to refine rules and citizens time to adapt without feeling that the goalposts have shifted overnight.

None of this argues against reform.

If anything, it argues for making reforms more durable.

In a country of 1.4 billion people, the shortest distance between policy and progress is rarely the fastest one.

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