New Delhi, Jul 10 (PTI) The government on Friday defended the ethanol-blended petrol programme amid concerns over engine damage and mileage loss in vehicles using ethanol-blended fuel, saying the scheme has helped the sugar economy, boosted farmers’ incomes and saved the country over Rs 1.90 lakh crore in foreign exchange since 2014-15.

Addressing a conclave organised by the Grain Ethanol Manufacturers Association (GEMA), Joint Secretary in the food ministry Ashwani Srivastava said ethanol has become central to the agricultural economy by creating new markets for surplus crops and reducing India's dependence on imported crude oil.

Ethanol-blended petrol (EBP) programme has resulted in saving of more than Rs 1.90 lakh crore of foreign exchange with the substitution of more than 310 lakh tonnes of crude oil from ethanol supply in 2014-15 up to 2026. Besides, it has also led to a net CO2 reduction of approximately 930 lakh tonne, he said.

Srivastava said the EBP programme, which began with sugarcane-based ethanol, has ensured timely payments to cane growers and made the sugar industry more financially viable, with arrears owed to sugarcane farmers now at their lowest level ever.

He said between 2014-15 and 2020-21, the Centre disbursed about Rs 14,600 crore in subsidies to sugar mills, including export subsidies to clear surplus stock. However, no such export subsidy has been required since 2021-22, as mills now divert surplus sugar towards ethanol production, he said.

Srivastava said maize has emerged as the largest feedstock for ethanol production, accounting for 47 per cent of supplies to oil marketing companies in 2024-25 and 36 per cent so far in the current supply year, up from traditional sugarcane-based feedstock. This has helped maize farmers get better realisation for their crop, he said.

He said India's ethanol production capacity has grown from about 21 crore litres in 2013-14 to around 2,000 crore litres currently.

With crude oil prices rising amid the Middle East crisis, the 20 per cent ethanol blending has helped save foreign exchange, substituting more than 310 lakh metric tonnes of crude oil since 2014-15 and cutting net CO2 emissions by about 930 lakh metric tonnes, he said.

Srivastava also referred to a recent Cabinet decision to reduce the permissible broken-grain content in rice supplied under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana from 25 per cent to 10 per cent. He said the additional broken rice generated during milling would be available in the open market for industrial use, including ethanol production, while ensuring better-quality rice for over 50 crore PDS beneficiaries.

He said the government's push for flex-fuel vehicles (FFVs), capable of running on ethanol blends from E20 to E100, along with the planned roll-out of E85 fuel, would give consumers flexibility and further support the ethanol blending programme.

Meanwhile, GEMA President C K Jain said the ethanol programme was approved only after extensive research and was not a hurried decision.

He said research on the E20 blend was carried out over four years, from 2014 to 2018, during which vehicles were driven 200,000 km on conventional fuel and another 200,000 km after switching to E20.

"The result showed that E20 is safe for all engines. Then it was executed and implemented after technical studies, pilot projects, policy discussions, and not in haste," Jain said.

He said discussions on the issue should be based on facts and not misconceptions. "There should always be healthy discussions, but the discussions should be on facts, not myths," he said.

Jain said the biggest challenge facing the sector currently is not production but perception, noting that India has invested Rs 14 billion in ethanol production, compared with USD 5-6 billion spent by the US on sugarcane cultivation.

He also called for clarity on the road map beyond E20, saying this would help improve farmer productivity. PTI LUX HVA HVA