NEW DELHI — The Union Government has strongly refuted reports claiming that India has agreed to import ethanol from the United States for its domestic fuel blending programme, clarifying that no such concessions or commitments have been made during ongoing India-US bilateral trade discussions.
In a formal statement issued by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the government dismissed recent media reports and speculative claims as "baseless and factually incorrect." The ministry emphasized that the Ethanol Blended with Petrol (EBP) Programme continues to be strictly governed by domestic policy mandates, with all fuel-grade ethanol sourced exclusively from local producers.
"No concessions or commitments relating to the import of ethanol for fuel blending from the U.S. have been made in the India-US trade discussions," the Commerce Ministry stated. "Accordingly, any suggestion of a policy change to permit large-scale imports of fuel ethanol from the US is misleading."
The government's official clarification arrives amid political controversy sparked by allegations from Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal, who alleged that the Centre was planning to expand ethanol blending mandates into diesel and aviation turbine fuel (ATF), while urging citizens to defer purchasing new petrol and diesel vehicles.
Clearing the air, multiple central ministries—including Civil Aviation and Heavy Industries—have reiterated that there are currently no active proposals to introduce ethanol blending into aviation fuel, nor are there incentives formulated for vehicles running on blends exceeding 20% ethanol (E20).
Currently, India’s retail fuel network is progressively rolling out E20 petrol (a blend of 80 percent petrol and 20 percent ethanol) as part of its broader energy self-reliance and decarbonization Roadmap.
Bilateral trade negotiations between New Delhi and Washington have been underway since March, with eight rounds of high-level negotiations completed so far. While both nations finalized the overarching framework for the first phase of the agreement in February, Indian authorities maintain that strategic domestic agricultural and fuel policies remain firmly protected under the talks.
