Whole controversy of Ethanol Blending: How EVs are more reliable than flex fuel vehicles

The government's policy of ethanol blending has once again come into a storm of criticism. A recent report by India Today highlighted the hidden cost of ethanol water! The report claimed that making just 1 litre of ethanol consumes 10,000 litres of water. The report came after the government published a policy document in the public domain asking for people’s opinions on 80–100% ethanol blending.

Following the report’s analysis, the internet went crazy, resurfacing all the controversies related to the policy and the concerned minister himself.

This is the same policy on which the Union Road Transport and Highways Minister, Nitin Gadkari, when asked by the news agency Facttious about the policy’s water usage loophole, declared the critics to be “anti-nationals.”

But what is this ethanol policy? How does this affect you? And lastly, what exactly is this criticism about? Let’s take a look one by one

What is Ethanol Blending?

Ethanol is an alcohol! Yes, you read that right.

It is a type of alcohol made from plants like sugarcane, corn, and leftover grains, and instead of being used for drinking, it is turned into fuel for vehicles.

Actually, ethanol burns cleaner than normal petrol. Also, since it comes from crops grown by farmers and not from underground oil wells, it is considered a more renewable and eco friendly fuel.

Now comes ethanol blending, which simply means mixing this plant made ethanol with regular petrol before it reaches your car. So when you fill your tank, your vehicle is not running on pure 100% petrol anymore; instead, it is running on a mix like E10 or E20, where the number 10 or 20 signifies the percentage of ethanol mixed with petrol. For example, E20 means 80% petrol and 20% ethanol.

The idea is simple: by adding a cleaner burning, plant based fuel into petrol, cars can produce slightly less pollution, countries can reduce dependence on imported crude oil, and farmers get another market for their crops. In short, ethanol blending is like giving traditional fuel a cleaner, greener upgrade without completely changing the way cars work.

Why India need Ethanol Blending?

Ethanol benefits for Government of India

Initially, the Government of India amended India’s National Biofuel Policy in 2022 to introduce E20 fuel in order to utilize the excessive stock of food accumulated in the godowns of FCI and sugar mills.

Actually, the government gives farmers an MSP (Minimum Support Price) to grow around 22 crops such as rice and wheat. This means that if farmers are unable to get a fair price in the market, the Food Corporation of India (FCI) purchases their crops at a pre decided price. Over time, this created another problem FCI started accumulating massive amounts of excess food stock. For example, while the government may distribute around 40 lakh metric tonnes of rice through welfare schemes, nearly 310 lakh metric tonnes of rice ends up being procured.

So, the Government of India amended India’s National Biofuel Policy in 2022 to introduce E20 fuel to utilize this excessive stock of food accumulated in the godowns of FCI and sugar mills for ethanol production.

Ethanol benefits for Farmers

Farmers, who mostly face difficulties in the post harvest sale of crops, will be able to sell their produce to ethanol companies. A different market option other than APMC mandis, with no middlemen, can significantly raise farmers’ incomes.

Ethanol benefits for Common Citizens

Petrol consumption is among India’s largest imports. We import crude oil, use petroleum, and export other petroleum products. If we are able to reduce petrol usage, our import dependency will decrease while exports will increase, making India’s balance of payments more resilient, which in turn will strengthen the overall economy.

Ethanol Blending: The Problem, the controversy

Hidden cost of water behind Ethanol

Anjal Prakash, an author of International Panel on Climate Change has said that, "Ethanol blending can worsen India’s water crisis mainly because most of the raw material sugarcane and increasingly maize is extremely water intensive to grow and process," India Today has reported.

In simpler terms, the demand for Ethanol created by the government has sucked a large amount of rice, sugarcane and maize towards oil refineries. These crops are the reason for water scarcity in the regions like Maharashtra and Punjab. So the Ethanol policy, by creating a market on the demand side and allowing a MSP on the supply side is cooking a perfect recipe for large scale Water Scarcity. 

From where will the rice come to manufacture ethanol?

As per the India Today report, “the government allocated 52 lakh tonnes of rice for ethanol production in 2024–25 and is now targeting 90 lakh tonnes in 2025–26.”

Another concerning point highlighted in the report is that the required rice will come from the share of broken rice earlier distributed to poor households.

“It plans to reduce the share of broken rice distributed to the poor under the public distribution system from 25% to 10%,” the report said.

Do we really have that much surplus to make Ethanol?

Last year, India’s drive toward corn based ethanol faced considerable problems since the nation became a net corn importer for the first time in several years. Increased demand for ethanol led to the diversion of maize production toward fuel products, causing shortages for the poultry and feed sectors. It also raised a significant question is it viable to extensively utilize a major food crop for biofuel purposes?

It seems that the answer may now come from the supply side. Corn farming in India has increased significantly during the current kharif period, where maize cultivation increased to almost 92 lakh hectares compared to 83 lakh hectares last year due to better prices and higher demand under the E20 ethanol blending program.

So, we did not really have the surplus, but the government is creating a completely different market altogether. This amplifies concerns about water scarcity because, if it happens, it will be policy induced rather than the result of naturally unsustainable practices.

The Controversy

Conspiracy theories on the internet have linked the policy with the son of Union Minister Nitin Gadkari. Actually, the minister’s son, Nikhil Gadkari, is the Managing and Executive Director of CIAN Agro Industries & Infrastructure Limited, a company pioneering the manufacturing of green ethanol. This linkage has attracted criticism of nepotism and has politicised the issue beyond its actual usage.

The Solution: Electric vehicles for your savings

1. An Exit From the MSP–Overstocking Cycle

Ethanol policy in India is getting increasingly reliant on surplus rice, corn, and sugarcane purchased under the MSP scheme. This creates a cycle where excess food production is indirectly encouraged for fuel manufacturing. Electric vehicles solve this problem because they do not depend on food crops as their source of energy. This allows agricultural policy to focus on food security and crop diversification instead of continuously feeding the fuel market.

2. EVs and E20 Can Co-Exist

A balanced blend is more realistic compared to over reliance on high levels of ethanol blending. Ethanol blending up to E20 can still offer farmers another market outside APMC mandis, while the adoption of electric vehicles will relieve agriculture from the sole responsibility of meeting India’s fuel requirements.

3. Lower Crude Dependency Without Permanent Farm Pressure

The use of EVs will drastically reduce India’s dependence on imported crude oil. Some might argue that this dependence may shift toward China for the supply of rare earth minerals and batteries, but the interesting part is that India also has strategic reserves and mining potential in regions like Jammu and Kashmir and Odisha. In fact, India is already planning to develop rare earth and battery material corridors in states like Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Karnataka, and Kerala. Unlike ethanol, EV expansion does not permanently consume agricultural land and food resources every year.

4. No Hidden Water Cost

The biggest criticism of ethanol is its massive water footprint because crops like sugarcane and rice are highly water intensive. It reportedly takes more than 10,000 litres of water to produce just 1 litre of ethanol, according to India Today. EVs avoid this hidden cost entirely.

On the other hand, India has already achieved more than 50% installed electricity generation capacity from non fossil fuel sources. This means that, soon enough, EVs will increasingly be charged using renewable energy instead of coal based electricity.

Doesn’t that sound more sustainable?

So, we can say that

E20 blending can work as a limited transitional policy, but pushing ethanol blending toward E85 or E100 may create unnecessary pressure on food production, water resources, and agriculture. Electric mobility can carry this burden more efficiently without deepening these challenges. Most importantly, EV adoption remains widely supported and comparatively less politicised, making it a more stable long-term solution for India’s transport future.

On the other hand, India has reached an installation capacity of over 50% of power generation through non-fossil fuels. It means soon enough you will be charging your EVs with renewable energy instead of coal fed energy.