No commitments on ethanol import from US for fuel blending under trade talks: Govt
The government on Thursday said no concessions or commitments with regard to the import of ethanol for fuel blending from America have been made in the India-US trade pact discussions.
India's fuel blending programme and ethanol procurement continue to be governed solely by the country's domestic policy requirements, the commerce and industry ministry said in a statement.
It said that recent claims in the media suggesting that India is importing and intends to import large quantities of ethanol from the US for fuel blending are baseless and factually incorrect.
As per the domestic policy framework, it said, ethanol used for fuel blending under the Ethanol Blended with Petrol Programme is sourced entirely from domestic producers.
There is no import of ethanol for fuel blending from the US, it added.
"No concessions or commitments relating to the import of ethanol for fuel blending from the U.S. have been made in the India-US trade discussions. Accordingly, any suggestion of a policy change to permit large-scale imports of fuel ethanol from the US is misleading," it said.
The statement is important as Aam Aadmi Party national convenor Arvind Kejriwal has alleged that the Centre plans to introduce ethanol blending in diesel and aviation turbine fuel (ATF).
E20 fuel, a blend of 80 per cent petrol and 20 per cent ethanol, is reshaping the country's retail fuel landscape.
Alleging that the government would soon blend ethanol in diesel as well, Kejriwal urged people to avoid purchasing new petrol and diesel vehicles for the time being.
India and the US are negotiating a trade pace since March. So far eight rounds of negotiations have been held. Both the countries in February finalised the framework for thwarting first phase of the bilateral trade agreement.
