The full story of Ethanol Blending Expansion Debated

Ethanol blending programme may reduce fossil fuel imports but could cause water shortage for water-intensive crops like maize, rice, and sugarcane.

Maize production jumped over 63% to 55.09 million tonnes in 2025–26 from 33 million tonnes in 2021–22, partly to meet ethanol demand.

One litre of ethanol requires about 7–10 million litres of water, and many ethanol plants fail to comply with zero liquid discharge mandates.

Area under sugarcane rose to 5.9 million hectares in 2026 from 5.7 million hectares a year earlier, driven by ethanol program incentives.

Reservoir levels dropped to 38.37% of live storage capacity (70.432 billion cubic meters) as of July 23, 2026, down from 110.519 billion cubic meters a year ago.

Uttar Pradesh Congress president Ajay Rai wrote to PM Narendra Modi seeking an impartial investigation into the Centre's ethanol-blended fuel policy.

Rai alleged the government is ignoring concerns of over 35 crore registered vehicle owners while pushing policies like E85 and E100 after E20.

The letter questioned the lack of accountability for technical issues and reduced mileage from ethanol blending by oil companies.

Rai claimed ethanol-blended petrol is sold at nearly the same price as regular petrol, contradicting promises of cheaper fuel.

He also targeted Union ministers Nitin Gadkari and Hardeep Singh Puri, suggesting they should face consequences over the policy.