Government Credits Ethanol Blended Petrol Programme for Saving Consumers Rs 30 per Litre

The Indian government has credited its Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme for helping consumers save nearly Rs 30 per litre on petrol prices during the recent West Asian crisis. According to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, when crude oil prices surged to around $135 per barrel, petrol without ethanol blending was projected to retail at about Rs 125 per litre in Delhi.

However, thanks to the EBP Programme, which combines domestically produced ethanol with petrol, consumers paid only Rs 94.77 per litre. The ministry claims that this saved them nearly Rs 30 per litre compared to what they would have paid without ethanol blending.

The government also highlighted the programme's benefits in terms of energy security and reducing dependence on imported crude oil. It noted that the EBP Programme has so far helped India save more than Rs 1.97 lakh crore in foreign exchange by reducing crude oil imports, while cutting over 950 lakh metric tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.