# Gehlot blames ethanol blending for sugar price rise, government rejects claim 2026-08-22T13:44:20+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 2 independent outlets Former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday accused the Centre of burdening people through increased ethanol blending in petrol, claiming the policy had pushed up sugar prices by Rs 14-17 per kg in 15 days. The Congress leader alleged that sugarcane diversion towards ethanol had reduced sugar availability, affected vehicle engines, and cut mileage, calling it a direct assault on people's hard-earned money. The government rejected the charge, saying the share of sugar diverted for ethanol had fallen from about 12% in 2022-23 to around 9% in 2025-26, and that nearly three-fourths of ethanol now comes from grains. The food ministry attributed the price rise to lower domestic output, festive demand, weather damage, global supply tightness, and speculation. India's sugar output for the 2025-26 season is estimated at 306 lakh tonnes, about 11% below initial estimates. The government has allowed duty-free imports of 10 lakh tonnes of raw sugar. Retail sugar prices rose to Rs 58.2 per kg, up 26% from a year ago. ## Coverage Coverage: 2 sources, 1 government-critical, 1 neutral - newindianexpress.com (government critical) Leads with Gehlot's attack, no government response in body - economictimes.indiatimes.com (neutral report) Reports government data and rebuttal, includes context on imports and global factors This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above. Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources. Last updated 2026-08-23T01:31:30+00:00. Tags: Ashok Gehlot, Centre, Congress, ethanol blending, sugar prices Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/ashok-gehlot-says-ethanol-policy-pushing-up-sugar-prices/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/ashok-gehlot-says-ethanol-policy-pushing-up-sugar-prices/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/