Gadkari Dismisses Claims of Ethanol-Blended Petrol Damaging Vehicles
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has dismissed claims that blending ethanol with petrol is damaging vehicles, stating it's actually helping to diversify India's agriculture sector. Speaking at the Bihar Investor Summit 2026, Gadkari said since 2022, over 4 crore four-wheelers and 20 crore two-wheelers have been running on petrol mixed with ethanol without any complaints.
Gadkari emphasized that blending ethanol with petrol aims to diversify agriculture towards energy and power sectors. 'Our farmers shall no longer remain 'anna data' (food producers) but also become 'urja data' (energy producers)', he added.
The minister claimed that leading automobile brands have successfully run their vehicles on 100% ethanol, with no complaints. He cited an example of the Union government's decision to make ethanol from corn, which resulted in additional earnings of up to Rs 45,000 crore for farmers in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.