The Ministry of Law and Justice has issued a clarification refuting media reports published on 30 June 2026 regarding the proceedings before the Supreme Court in BPCL’s Special Leave Petition concerning ethanol allocation. The Office of the Attorney General stated that reports claiming the Government described the 20% Ethanol Blended Petrol (E20) Programme as an “ongoing experiment” or suggested its impact would become clear only next year are entirely false. Before the Court, the Attorney General only informed that similar writ petitions involving ethanol allocation to Dedicated Ethanol Plants are pending before various High Courts and that Transfer Petitions would be filed to consolidate these matters before the Supreme Court, avoiding conflicting decisions and ensuring uninterrupted ethanol supplies under the national E20 programme. The Supreme Court observed that the Transfer Petitions be filed and directed maintenance of status quo for ethanol allocation during the 2025-26 Ethanol Supply Year in the present matter.
Ministry of Law and Justice
Clarification regarding media reports on the proceedings before the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the BPCL’s Special Leave Petition on Ethanol allocation matter
Posted On: 30 JUN 2026 9:29PM by PIB 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.
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