The government has issued a clarification on Thursday, August 6, stating that no concession or commitment has been made regarding import of ethanol for fuel blending from the United States.
According to the domestic policy framework, ethanol used for fuel blending has been sourced completely from domestic producers, the government informed.
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry in a statement said, "Recent claims in the media suggesting that India is importing and intends to import large quantities of ethanol from the United States (U.S.) for fuel blending are baseless and factually incorrect. There is no import of ethanol for fuel blending from the U.S."
The ministry further noted that no policy change has been made to import ethanol from the US.
It added, "Further, no concessions or commitments relating to the import of ethanol for fuel blending from the U.S. have been made in the India-U.S. Trade discussions. Accordingly, any suggestion of a policy change to permit large-scale imports of fuel ethanol from the U.S. is misleading. India's fuel blending programme and ethanol procurement continues to be governed solely by India's domestic policy requirements."
This clarification comes hours after Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu said no proposal is been considered to blend ethanol with aviation turbine fuel. He warned that misleading claims about aviation fuel could needlessly alarm passengers and erode public confidence in the safety of air travel.
The minister stressed that ethanol and sustainable aviation fuel are distinct fuels and should not be confused. "While ethanol is widely used in the road transport sector through petrol blending programmes, it has no role in aviation turbine fuel under the current regulatory framework," he said
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