Clarification regarding media reports on the proceedings before the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the BPCL’s Special Leave Petition on Ethanol allocation matter.
New Delhi : The Office of the Attorney General for India has noticed certain media reports published on 30 June 2026 which have incorrectly reported the submissions made by the learned Attorney General before the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the proceedings arising out of the Special Leave Petition filed by the Oil Marketing Companies (BPCL) in ethanol allocation matter.
The reports state that the Government’s 20% Ethanol Blended Petrol (E20) Programme is “still an ongoing experiment” and that “the impact of the policy would become clearer by next year.” These reports are completely false and do not reflect anything even close to the actual submissions made before the Hon’ble Court.
During the hearing, the learned Attorney General submitted that similar writ petitions involving identical issues concerning allocation of ethanol to Dedicated Ethanol Plants are presently pending before different High Courts. It was informed to the Hon’ble Supreme Court that Transfer Petitions are being filed for transfer of such matters to the Hon’ble Supreme Court so that common questions of interpretation of law arising from the same contractual framework may be considered together to avoid parallel proceedings and the possibility of conflicting decisions, if at all. This step is also likely to enable expeditious resolution of the litigation, so that supplies of ethanol to OMCs to maintain 20% blending with petrol throughout the year is not impacted, under the Ethanol Blended Petrol Programme which is a national programme.
Considering the above submission, the Hon’ble Court viewed that the proposed Transfer Petitions be filed and status quo may be maintained in respect of the ethanol allocation for the current Ethanol Supply Year (2025-26), insofar as the present matter is concerned.
At no stage was any submission made that the Government’s Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme or the E20 blending programme is an “experiment.”
It is clarified in explicit terms that any suggestion that the Government described the E20 programme before the Hon’ble Supreme Court as an “experiment” is incorrect and does not represent the submissions made on behalf of the Union of India.
Members of the media are requested to report judicial proceedings with due accuracy, particularly in matters involving important national policy initiatives. Issued by PIB
