Supreme Court directs status quo on Karnataka HC order which directed enhancement of ethanol allocation

Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription

The View From India Looking at World Affairs from the Indian perspective.

First Day First Show News and reviews from the world of cinema and streaming.

Today's Cache Your download of the top 5 technology stories of the day.

Data Point Decoding the headlines with facts, figures, and numbers

Health Matters Ramya Kannan writes to you on getting to good health, and staying there

The Hindu On Books Books of the week, reviews, excerpts, new titles and features.

The top court was hearing a plea filed by an oil marketing company which claimed that the high court’s order would destabilise the national policy of 20% ethanol blending for petrol. Representational file image. | Photo Credit: K. Murali Kumar

The Supreme Court on Tuesday (June 30, 2026) ordered status quo on a Karnataka High Court direction requiring the reopening of the ethanol allocation process for the 2025–26 supply year, which has already been concluded.

In its June 16, 2026 order, the High Court had directed the oil marketing companies (OMCs) — BPCL, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (HPCL) and Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. (IOCL) — to consider a request by VINP Distilleries and Sugars for an enhanced ethanol allocation before the tender process was finalised.

The High Court had held that dedicated ethanol plants, established pursuant to the government’s policy and contractually bound to supply ethanol exclusively to the OMCs, could not be denied the benefit of preferential allocation contemplated under the applicable agreement. Accordingly, it directed the OMCs to consider the distillery’s request for enhanced allocation for the Ethanol Supply Year (ESY) 2025–26.

Appearing for BPCL, Attorney General R. Venkataramani submitted that, as the industry coordinator for the Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) programme, BPCL had completed the allocation exercise on October 17, 2025. He said procurement quantities had been allocated to 378 suppliers for a total of about 1,050 crore litres of ethanol, against cumulative offers of 1,759 crore litres received under the tender. By June 18, nearly 680 crore litres had already been supplied.

“The effect of this order is that there are about 75 similarly placed suppliers... We have to undo the allocation for all of them,” he submitted.

Mr. Venkataramani further submitted that the ethanol blending programme was still evolving and that its impact would become clearer over time.

“Every year there may either be a spurt in demand or a fall