The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed that existing ethanol supply allocations for ESY 2025-26 remain unchanged. The interim order came while hearing a plea by BPCL challenging a Karnataka High Court ruling. The decision affects India’s ethanol-blending programme.
A bench of justices MM Sundresh and Sheel Nagu issued notice on the plea and restrained any alteration to the allocation framework. The court acted after Attorney General R Venkataramani argued that the Karnataka High Court order could unsettle allocations already finalised in October 2025.
Allocations had been communicated to 378 suppliers for about 10500 million litres of ethanol. Around 6800 million litres had already been supplied by mid-June, according to BPCL. The dispute originated from a petition by Karnataka-based VINP Distilleries and Sugars Pvt Ltd, which sought a higher allocation.
The Karnataka High Court had directed oil marketing companies to consider enhancing the allocation for the company. The Supreme Court observed that the matter had wider implications for the national policy and required resolution at one forum.
