Discuss the economic and environmental rationale behind India's Ethanol Blended Petrol Programme. Examine the concerns associated with feedstock diversion and water use.

Launched in 2003 [3], the Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme achieved 20% blending (E20) in Ethanol Supply Year 2025-26, five years ahead of the original 2030 target [1]. Its logic rests on energy security and decarbonisation, though feedstock and water sustainability now demand scrutiny.

Economic rationale

• Import substitution: with crude meeting about 88.5% of consumption, blending has displaced over 310 lakh metric tonnes of crude and saved more than ₹1.90 lakh crore in foreign exchange since ESY 2014-15 [1].
• Farmer incomes: sugarcane, maize and rice growers gained an assured non-food market, earning over ₹1.60 lakh crore additionally [1].
• Rural industrialisation: distillery capacity rose nearly fivefold, from 421 crore litres (2014) to about 2,000 crore litres (2026), drawing investment into agrarian districts [1].

Environmental rationale

• Emission avoidance: roughly 930 lakh metric tonnes of CO₂ emissions averted, supporting India's net-zero pathway [1].
• Cleaner combustion: ethanol's high octane (~108.5 RON) lifts E20's effective octane to about 95, improving combustion quality [1].
• Ends the older practice of burning surplus crop residues and molasses waste by monetising them.

Concerns: feedstock diversion

• Diverting maize and rice to distilleries creates a food-versus-fuel trade-off, straining feed and PDS supplies [4].
• It incentivises water-intensive sugarcane monoculture in already stressed basins, distorting cropping patterns.
• Blending beyond 20% will intensify this unless 2G ethanol from crop residue scales up under PM JI-VAN Yojana [5].

Concerns: water use

• Modern distilleries consume 3–5 litres of water per litre of ethanol, over and above the far larger water footprint of cane cultivation [1].
• Zero-liquid-discharge norms and spent-wash management remain enforcement challenges in groundwater-deficit regions.

The programme demonstrably advances energy security, farm incomes and climate goals, but its next phase must be sustainability-calibrated. Prioritising second-generation and damaged-foodgrain feedstock, micro-irrigation in cane belts and strict zero-liquid-discharge compliance would align blending with SDG-7 and SDG-6 alike.