Ethanol Blending Boosts Farm Sector Diversification: Nitin Gadkari
· India · The Hindu, Times of India
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari dismissed claims that petrol mixed with ethanol damages vehicles while addressing the Bihar Investor Summit 2026 in Patna on Thursday. He stated that four crore four-wheelers and 20 crore two-wheelers have run on ethanol-blended fuel since 2022 without complaints. Gadkari asserted that the policy transforms farmers from food producers into energy producers by creating alternative markets for crops like corn. The initiative has generated up to ₹45,000 crore in additional earnings for farmers in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. He challenged critics to provide evidence of vehicle damage, attributing opposition to vested interests defending conventional fuel imports worth ₹22 lakh crore.
Why it matters
The push toward E20 fuel directly alters India's agricultural economy and energy imports, creating new revenue streams for farmers in states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
Read the original report — The Hindu
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