'Congress began E10, floated global tender for ethanol': G Kishan Reddy shares 2013 notification to slam Rahul Gandhi

Union Minister G Kishan Reddy on Tuesday hit back at Rahul Gandhi over its criticism of the government’s ethanol-blended petrol policy, saying the programme was started when the Congress was in power.

Reddy said Congress had made 5% ethanol blending mandatory in 2012 and later directed oil companies to sell petrol blended with up to 10% ethanol.

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"Rahul Gandhi has decided to lie to this country on ethanol blending. Arvind Kejriwal has decided to lie about sourcing ethanol from abroad. Before either of them continues their lies, the nation deserves the chronology, and the chronology is written in their own government's Gazette," Reddy said in a detailed post on X

The coal minister said the Congress-led government's Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs decided on November 22, 2012, to make 5% ethanol blending mandatory across India by June 30, 2013.

On January 2, 2013, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry issued a Gazette notification directing oil marketing companies to sell petrol blended with up to 10% ethanol, he said.

But domestic producers could not meet the requirement, according to Reddy. "Against a requirement of  140.4 crore litres, Indian producers could offer only 55 crore litres. The finalised quantity collapsed to 39.8 crore litres."

Reddy said the Congress government then floated a global tender in January 2013 for 82.03 crore litres of ethanol.

"Congress wrote the mandate. Congress wrote the 10 per cent. Congress wrote the deadline. And when Congress failed, Congress wrote a global tender," he said.

‘EVERY LITRE IS SOURCED FROM DOMESTIC PRODUCERS’

The minister also rejected Kejriwal’s claim that E20 was being imported or that India was being forced to use surplus American ethanol. He said India has prohibited imports of ethanol for fuel purposes since May 2019.

Reddy cited an August 6 statement by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry saying that every litre of ethanol used for fuel blending is sourced from domestic producers. "Kejriwal needs to answer on this, and apologise to the people once again for making fake claims," Reddy said.

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ETHANOL SUPPLY RISES

Reddy compared ethanol procurement under Congress with current supply levels.

He said 38 crore litres of ethanol were procured in 2013-14, compared with 707 crore litres in 2023-24.

For the current supply year, he said, the requirement is about 1,050 crore litres, while Indian producers have offered 1,776 crore litres.

The central minister attributed the increase to pricing reforms, procurement guarantees, long-term offtake agreements and higher distillery capacity.

"In 2013, Congress went to the world with a begging bowl because they could not empower Indian farmers to produce enough so that supply could be secured. In 2026, Indian farmers are offering nearly double what the country needs," he said.

RAHUL GANDHI'S E20 ATTACK

The opposition has been targeting the government over E20, alleging that ethanol-blended petrol has damaged vehicle engines and affected mileage.

Earlier this month, Rahul Gandhi said E20 was a major issue and promised to take it up aggressively.

"The issue of E-20 is a very big issue. Normally, we say Daal mein kuch kaala hai, but yahaan toh puri Daal hi kaali hai (There is something wrong with lentils. But this lentil itself is wrong)," Gandhi said.

He alleged that E20 was "destroying people's cars, destroying people's scooters, destroying people's lives" and "literally is stealing directly from them".

Reddy urged Gandhi to address the January 2, 2013, Gazette notification on ethanol blending.

"It carries your party's name," he said.