Overview
- Nitin Gadkari rejected allegations of personal gain from the ethanol programme, saying he would not stoop for money and that his initiatives aim to benefit farmers.
- He argued that ethanol has helped keep India’s sugar industry and cane growers afloat, and he urged adoption of new farming technologies and water conservation.
- Gadkari described criticism of E20 as a politically motivated “paid campaign” and asserted he knows how to earn honestly.
- Addressing questions about his family, he outlined his son’s agri-trade ventures, including fruit imports and exports, fish shipments to Serbia, a milk powder unit in Australia, and rice mills operated with ITC.
- On September 1, the Supreme Court dismissed a PIL seeking mandatory ethanol-free petrol, with the court noting no evidence that E20 harms engines even as consumer concerns over mileage and older-vehicle compatibility persist.