New Delhi: In a blistering attack on the BJP government, Congress leader Pawan Khera on Thursday accused Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari of turning India’s ethanol blending policy into a “family windfall,” directly benefitting his sons’ companies.
Khera alleged that while citizens grapple with soaring fuel costs, firms linked to Gadkari’s family have reaped unprecedented profits. “First vote chori, now petrol chori, by Modi ji. A government which won by a vote milawat, is now running the country on Milawat,” Khera remarked.
According to Khera, Cian Agro Industries Infrastructure Ltd, owned by Gadkari’s son Nikhil, saw revenues spike from Rs 18 crore in June 2024 to Rs 523 crore by June 2025, with its stock price skyrocketing over 2,100 per cent in just eight months. Another son, Sarang, serves as director of Manas Agro Industries, also active in ethanol production.
“While the common man’s wages have stagnated and declined, Cian Agro’s financial ascent is staggering,” he said.
He further claimed the ethanol programme has failed to deliver on its 2018 promise of cheaper fuel. Gadkari had assured diesel at Rs 50 per litre and petrol alternatives at Rs 55, but petrol has instead surged from Rs 71.41 in 2014 to nearly Rs 95 in 2025. “Seven years into blending, not a single paisa relief has reached the common man,” Khera said.
Citing technical reports, he alleged E20 fuel reduces engine life by 25 per cent and increases maintenance costs and greater mileage loss than official estimates. “Although NITI Aayog acknowledges only up to 6 per cent mileage reduction, real-world feedback suggests far greater performance issues,” Khera said.
“Ethanol plants are not buying grains from local farmers at Minimum Support Prices (MSP) but instead depend on cheap grains from government stock. The Food Corporation of India (FCI) is selling grains such as rice to ethanol plants at Rs 22.50 per kg, while the economic cost of this grain is Rs 39.75 per kg. This not only affects farmers’ income but also puts a strain on national food reserves,” he added.
Khera also raised conflict of interest concerns, pointing to ethanol’s dependence on sugarcane despite promises of production from waste and wood.
He accused Gadkari and RSS associates of backing sugar mills in Maharashtra to sustain the policy push.
The Congress leader posed five questions to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, including whether the Lokpal will investigate Gadkari and his family, and who is “pocketing the profits” from the ethanol drive.
(IANS)
