Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
The government on Tuesday denied media reports claiming it had described its 20 per cent Ethanol Blended Petrol (E20) programme as an “ongoing experiment” before the Supreme Court, saying the reports were completely false and did not reflect the submissions made by Attorney General R Venkataramani.
In a statement, the Ministry of Law and Justice said reports suggesting that the government told the court the E20 programme was “still an ongoing experiment” and that its impact would become clearer next year were incorrect and did not represent the submissions made on behalf of the government.
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“At no stage was any submission made that the Government’s Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme or the E20 blending programme is an ‘experiment’. It is clarified in explicit terms that any suggestion that the Government described the E20 programme before the Hon’ble Supreme Court as an ‘experiment’ is incorrect and does not represent the submissions made on behalf of the Union of India,” the ministry said in a statement.
The clarification came after the Supreme Court heard a plea filed by state-owned Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) challenging a Karnataka High Court order relating to ethanol allocation for the 2025-26 ethanol supply year.
According to the ministry, the Centre informed the court that similar petitions involving ethanol allocation to dedicated ethanol plants are pending before various high courts. It said transfer petitions would be filed to move all such cases to the Supreme Court so that common questions of law arising from the same contractual framework could be decided together.
The government said hearing the cases together would help avoid parallel proceedings and conflicting judgments while enabling quicker resolution of the litigation. It added that this was necessary to ensure uninterrupted ethanol supplies to oil marketing companies (OMCs) to maintain 20 per cent ethanol blending in petrol under the national Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) programme.
Taking note of the submissions, the Supreme Court observed that the proposed transfer petitions should be filed and directed that status quo be maintained with regard to ethanol allocation for the current Ethanol Supply Year (2025-26) in the present matter.
The ministry urged media organisations to report judicial proceedings accurately, particularly in matters involving significant national policy initiatives.
The case before the Supreme Court stems from a June 23 order of the Karnataka High Court directing oil marketing companies — BPCL, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited and Indian Oil Corporation — to consider a distillery’s request for enhanced ethanol allocation before finalising the tender process for the 2025–26 supply year.
BPCL has argued that altering allocations after supply contracts have been finalised could affect the implementation of the national ethanol-blending programme.
India achieved its target of blending 20 per cent ethanol with petrol in 2025, five years ahead of schedule, with oil marketing companies rolling out E20 fuel across the country from April 1. The government has since announced a target of increasing ethanol blending to 30 per cent by 2030.
The latest clarification comes less than a week after the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas rejected claims that E20 fuel could damage vehicles or invalidate insurance coverage. The ministry said ethanol blending is a globally accepted practice followed in countries such as the United States, Brazil and Japan.
The ministry has maintained that the programme has helped reduce crude oil imports, save foreign exchange, strengthen India’s energy security and cut carbon emissions, and said it will continue to be implemented in a safe and consumer-friendly manner.
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
