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Climate Change and You: The true cost of ethanol blending
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Climate Change & You is a fortnightly newsletter written by Bibek Bhattacharya and Sayantan Bera. Subscribe to Mint’s newsletters to get them directly in your inbox. Dear reader, If you own a petrol vehicle, you must be aware by now that the fuel you use is a blend.
A fifth of the fuel is actually ethanol produced from grains like maize and rice, as well as from sugarcane. The blending programme has helped India reduce emissions on the road and the fuel import bill. But it is also reshaping the farm.
Farmers are planting more grains and sugarcane, driven by the prospect of a ready market and better prices. For a long time, farmers have been losing interest in pulses and oilseeds due to low productivity and paltry returns. Ethanol blending is accentuating this process, potentially leading to greater reliance on imports of pulses and oilseeds.
The Economic Survey 2025-26 highlighted this emerging tension between ‘atmanirbharta (self-sufficiency) in energy and atmanirbharta in food'. As the ethanol programme matures, there is a strong case for developing a comprehensive road map that takes a holistic view of energy and food security, the survey said. Vehicle users have complained that ethanol-blended fuel results in lower mileage and more wear and tear in non-compliant vehicles.
But the farm rejig is more worrying: Growing more water-intensive crops, which also need more chemical fertilizers imposes an indirect cost on the environment. The true cost of the blending programme, therefore, requires careful analysis. Ethanol manufacturers are pushing for a higher blending ratio (currently around 20%) as they have created excess production capacity.
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