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July 2026 POLICY AND ECONOMIC
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Their statements were backed by real-world service data:

• Maruti Suzuki analysed 2.84 crore vehicles serviced in FY 2025-26, including over 1.5 crore older
vehicles, and found no E20-related corrosion, abnormal wear or reduction in component life.

• Hero MotoCorp reported that its extensive service data showed no higher incidence of vehicle
damage in two-wheelers operating on E20.

• Toyota Kirloskar stated that E20 was introduced only after rigorous testing on older vehicles,
following internationally recognised testing protocols under UNECE standards.

6. India's ethanol blended petrol programme balances food security, farmer welfare and energy
security
PIB in its report has brought out that the Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme is a key national
initiative to enhance India's energy security, reduce dependence on imported crude oil and support
farmers while safeguarding food security. Certain recent claims have presented an incomplete and
misleading picture of the programme. The following clarifications address these issues and set out the
factual position.

Claim: The Government sold FCI rice worth ?37/kg to distilleries at ?23/kg, causing a loss of ?10,000
crore. The Government has also admitted that ethanol is more expensive than petrol, so E20 survives
only because taxpayers subsidise it.

No compromise on food security — ethanol never comes at the cost of the poor
• The allegation is not just misleading; it turns the truth on its head.
• Every food grain grain first serves the Public Distribution System (PDS), the National Food Security

Act (NFSA), welfare schemes, and mandatory buffer stocks. Not a single grain procured at MSP is
diverted to ethanol before India's food security is secured.
• Only the surplus, certified by the Department of Food & Public Distribution after every food
security obligation has been met, is approved for ethanol production.
• What actually goes into the ethanol programme is the damaged grain, broken rice, and foodgrain
unfit for human consumption—stocks that would otherwise rot in warehouses.
• This is not taking food away from the poor; it is turning waste into wealth, reducing imports, and
putting more money into the hands of Indian farmers.
• And the programme is moving even further ahead. Through the Pradhan Mantri JI-VAN Yojana,
India is rapidly expanding 2G (Second generation) ethanol from agricultural residue, reducing
dependence on food grains altogether.
• The facts are clear: the Government protects every grain needed for food security first, and only
then converts surplus and waste into clean energy. The claim isn't just wrong, it ignores the very
safeguards that make India's ethanol programme one of the world's most responsible.

Rice was not given special treatment
• The claim creates the impression that FCI rice was sold to ethanol producers at an unusually cheap

price. That is simply not true.

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