Author: C.P. Rajendran

The Indian government’s ethanol blending programme is being celebrated as a triumph of energy policy, a meteoric rise from a paltry 1.53 per cent blend in 2014 to a mandated 20% (E20) by April 2026, achieved five years ahead of schedule. On paper, the numbers are dazzling: ₹1.9 lakh crore in foreign exchange savings, 930 lakh metric tonnes of CO₂ abated, and over ₹1.6 lakh crore funnelled to farmers. Yet beneath this glossy veneer of statist achievement lies a deeply uncomfortable reality. The programme is not a consumer-driven success story; it is a top-down, supply-side mandate that prioritises disposal of…