Govt says reports on E20 blending submissions before SC are incorrect

Ministry says reports misrepresented the Attorney General's submissions before the Supreme Court on ethanol allocation and stressed the national E20 programme was never described as an experiment

The government on Tuesday rejected as incorrect reports claiming it had described the 20 per cent Ethanol Blended Petrol (E20) programme before the Supreme Court as an experiment. It said the reports were completely false and did not reflect the actual submissions made before the apex court.

 

The clarification by the Ministry of Law and Justice came in response to reports stating that the government's E20 programme is "still an ongoing experiment" and that "the impact of the policy would become clearer by next year".

 

The Office of the Attorney General said it had noticed media reports published on Tuesday incorrectly reporting the submissions made by the Attorney General before the Supreme Court in proceedings arising out of the Special Leave Petition filed by Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) in the ethanol allocation matter.

   

During the hearing, the Attorney General submitted that similar writ petitions involving identical issues concerning allocation of ethanol to dedicated ethanol plants are pending before different High Courts. Transfer petitions are being filed so that these matters may be heard together by the apex court and the common questions of law considered together.

 

This step is also likely to enable expeditious resolution of the litigation so that supplies of ethanol to oil marketing companies (OMCs) to maintain 20 per cent blending with petrol throughout the year are not impacted under the Ethanol Blended Petrol Programme, which is a national programme.

 

"Considering the above submission, the Hon'ble Court viewed that the proposed Transfer Petitions be filed and status quo may be maintained in respect of the ethanol allocation for the current Ethanol Supply Year (2025-26)," the ministry said, adding that at no stage was any submission made that the Government's Ethanol Blended Petrol Programme, or the E20 blending programme, is an experiment.