Hardeep Puri defends ethanol blending, cites global record and warns fuel prices hinge on crude trends
SUNIL NEGI
New Delhi, 01 July
Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Puri on Thursday came out strongly in support of the government’s ethanol blending programme, rejecting what he called “false narratives” being circulated by rival parties and on social media.
Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Puri said the criticism was being spread deliberately to undermine the government and discredit a fuel option that has shown strong results both in India and abroad. Referring to remarks by the Attorney General, he said they were taken out of context. He described the ethanol programme as a credible step to cut import dependence, reduce the fuel import bill and promote cleaner energy.
Puri said there is well-documented experience domestically and internationally, with several countries running high ethanol blends for years without incident. India’s own rollout, he added, has not reported adverse effects, and the government is on track for the 20% blending target despite baseless videos and claims being circulated online.
On retail petrol and diesel prices, the minister said any reduction will depend on international crude staying lower for two to three months. He pointed out that while global crude has eased recently, oil companies are still working through inventory purchased during the peak of the West Asia crisis.
He also outlined progress on refining capacity. The ministry expects to reach 300 million metric tonnes per annum in the next six to twelve months with the commissioning of the country’s first greenfield refinery in a decade. The Rajasthan project, built at a cost of Rs 79,459 crore with HPCL holding 74% and the state government 26%, is being billed as one of India’s largest single-location industrial investments. Officials said the plant has used 30,000 tonnes of structural steel, equivalent to about 40 times the weight of the Eiffel Tower; 1.6 million cubic metres of concrete, roughly five times the volume used in the Burj Khalifa; and over 15 million cubic metres of earth excavation, about six times the material needed for the Pyramids of Giza.
Speaking on energy security, Puri said oil marketing companies maintained supply during the West Asia crisis and Hormuz bottlenecks. Petroleum product inventories, he said, stayed at 45 to 60 days of average consumption throughout, with no fuel dry-out reported anywhere in the country.
He acknowledged the financial pressure on public sector oil marketing companies. OMCs are likely to see under-recoveries of around Rs 2.10 lakh crore across the fourth quarter of FY26 and the first quarter of FY27, with the April-June quarter of FY27 alone accounting for an estimated Rs 1.88 lakh crore. The gap reflects the squeeze between global crude costs and regulated domestic prices, he said.
On cleaner fuels, Puri noted a consumer shift, with about 1.3 lakh households moving from LPG to piped natural gas, which he said reflects greater awareness of cleaner household energy.
He ended by reiterating the government’s focus on three priorities: securing energy supply, expanding cleaner fuel use, and building long-term domestic refining capacity.
