Nitin Gadkari responsible for Ethanol row: K’taka Minister

Bengaluru, Nov 10 (SocialNews.XYZ) Karnataka Large and Medium Industries, Infrastructure Development Minister M.B. Patil on Tuesday blamed Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari for the ethanol controversy, alleging that the Centre had encouraged excessive ethanol production without making adequate arrangements for its procurement.

He demanded a comprehensive investigation into the issue.

A major political and consumer controversy has erupted in India over the mandatory 20 per cent ethanol-blending (E20) petrol policy, following allegations by the Karnataka government that fuel samples contained ethanol levels exceeding 30 per cent, a claim strongly disputed by central oil marketing companies.

Speaking to the media, Patil alleged that the Centre had created problems by promoting excessive ethanol blending in petrol and said Gadkari was primarily responsible for the situation. He also criticised Union Minister Pralhad Joshi for defending the Centre's policy.

Patil said those operating sugar factories, including BJP leader Murugesh Nirani and Prabhakar Kore, could be consulted to understand the ground realities.

He questioned why the Centre was expressing doubts about the test results when petrol samples had been sent to central government laboratories for examination.

He said sugar factories were facing a situation of excessive ethanol stocks, with the problem prevailing not only in Karnataka but also in Maharashtra. The situation in Uttar Pradesh was relatively better, he added.

According to Patil, the Centre encouraged ethanol production on a large scale but failed to ensure adequate procurement.

He said the government should have initially introduced the ethanol-blending programme on a pilot basis in four or five districts and assessed its advantages and disadvantages before expanding it nationwide. Instead, Gadkari imposed the blending system abruptly, resulting in the present difficulties, he alleged.

On the aviation sector, Patil said the Karnataka government had prepared a comprehensive aviation policy aimed at promoting the growth of civil aviation in the state. The policy would be presented at the next Cabinet meeting, he said.

The proposed policy covers several aspects, including financial assistance, viability gap funding (VGF) and efficient operations of airports managed by the state government. He expressed confidence that the policy could become a model for the entire country.

Responding to questions about the suspension of flight services from Shivamogga airport, Patil blamed shortcomings in the Centre's UDAN-2 scheme.

He said the Centre had handed over Mangaluru airport to the Adani Group and was now moving towards privatising Hubballi airport. Karnataka had spent Rs 1,000 crore on Kalaburagi airport and handed it over to the Centre, but the state was not receiving even a single rupee in return, he said.

Patil said the state government had suggested extending the UDAN scheme from three to five years, followed by another five years of operation with expenses shared equally by the Centre and the state. However, the Centre did not accept the proposal. As a result, 17 airports across the country had become non-operational, he claimed.

He said the state government had decided to operate the Shivamogga, Raichur and Vijayapura airports rather than spend thousands of crores of rupees on building airports and hand them over to the Centre.

Flight services at Kalaburagi airport, which had been suspended, were resumed with 80 per cent of the funding provided by the Kalyana Karnataka Region Development Board (KKRDB) and the remaining 20 per cent by the state government.

Challenging Shivamogga MP B.Y. Raghavendra, Patil said he should arrange similar financial assistance for Shivamogga airport if he had the ability, instead of blaming the state government.

Source: IANS