Now Reading: Government Says Ethanol Blending Prevented Rs 125 Petrol Price
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Government Says Ethanol Blending Prevented Rs 125 Petrol Price
The Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry says Delhi petrol could have cost about Rs 125 a litre during the recent West Asian crisis if petrol had not contained ethanol. Consumers paid Rs…
The Story in Brief
The Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry says Delhi petrol could have cost about Rs 125 a litre during the recent West Asian crisis if petrol had not contained ethanol. Consumers paid Rs 94.77 a litre, with 20% ethanol bought at pre-agreed prices, implying savings of nearly Rs 30 a litre, according to the ministry.
The government says the Ethanol Blended Petrol programme has saved more than Rs 1.97 lakh crore in foreign exchange, cut over 950 lakh metric tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions and paid more than Rs 1.66 lakh crore to farmers and distillers. It says only surplus or unusable grain is approved after food security needs are met. India still imports nearly 88% of its oil requirement.
The Indian Opinion
The claim that blending alone shields households from every oil shock is too sweeping. The Rs 125 estimate is a government projection, not the price consumers actually faced, and petrol prices also reflect taxes and other costs. The opposite claim, that ethanol automatically threatens food security, is also unsupported here because the ministry says surplus and damaged grain are used. The useful test is whether future audits confirm the savings and food diversion safeguards.
Source: thehansindia.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
