Centre denies describing E20 ethanol blending programme an ‘experiment’ in Supreme Court

The Union government on Tuesday rejected media reports claiming that it had told the Supreme Court that its 20% Ethanol Blended Petrol programme was “still an ongoing experiment” and that its impact would become clearer next year.

It said that the reports did not accurately reflect the submissions made by Attorney General R Venkataramani.

The Ministry of Law and Justice said the reports were “completely false and do not reflect anything even close to the actual submissions made before [the Supreme Court]”.

The clarification came after the Supreme Court heard a petition filed by state-owned Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited against a June 23 Karnataka High Court order on ethanol allocation for the 2025-’26 supply year, India Today reported.

The High Court had directed Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited and Indian Oil Corporation to consider a distillery’s request for a higher ethanol allocation before finalising tenders for the supply year, the news outlet reported.

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited had argued that changing allocations after supply contracts have been finalised could affect the implementation of the national ethanol-blending programme.

On Tuesday, the ministry said that during the hearing, the attorney general told the court that similar writ petitions involving allocation of ethanol to dedicated ethanol plants were pending before several high courts.

The Supreme Court...

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