I have no personal interest, there is a deep conspiracy on ethanol policy: Nitin Gadkari

Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has strongly supported the central government’s ethanol blending programme. He completely rejected all allegations that there was an interest in the policy and dismissed the claims that it damaged the vehicle. The minister challenged critics to produce evidence that any petrol-powered vehicle was harmed by E20 fuel. He clarified that the main objective of this step is to reduce the country’s energy importPromote clean fuel and increase farmers’ income.

In an exclusive interview with India Today TV, Godkari denied having any personal interest in the ethanol programme. He said his family’s sugar business has been running long before the government’s ethanol policy and his share in ethanol production is negligible. He said he got nothing from this ethanol policy and his family’s share of the entire country’s production is only 0.07 percent. “There is no way such a small shareholder can influence the country’s ethanol policy for his own benefit,” he suggested.

The minister said India currently produces about 1.5 billion liters of ethanol annually through about 550 ethanol production units. He’s not just talking about ethanolInstead, it has always favored the use of alternative fuels to reduce the country’s dependence on crude oil and benefit farmers. He also said that he did not take this policy alone, in consultation with the Ministry of Petroleum, the Cabinet and scientific research.

Responding to claims that ethanol-containing fuel damages cars, Godkari said, “If someone’s car is damaged by ethanol.Then they can lodge a complaint with the dealer or the transport ministry and the government will investigate it and provide relief. He said major companies like Maruti Suzuki, Toyota, Tata Motors and Mahindra have not reported any car breakdowns due to ethanol. A recent investigation of a Toyota vehicle found that water, rather than ethanol, was the contaminant. Calling the entire controversy a political conspiracy to discredit him, he said countries like the US, Brazil, Japan, Germany, Thailand and Sweden have already successfully used ethanol and India is following a global approach.