Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari on Sunday, 2 August visited villages in Meerut district, Uttar Pradesh, to assess ground-level impact of the Centre's Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme on sugarcane and rice farmers. His tour of Fafunda and Chandasara villages comes a day after Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal raised concerns about the E20 initiative.

What Farmers Told Bhandari

Farmers in both villages told Bhandari that the ethanol blending initiative has brought tangible financial relief. According to Bhandari, they reported receiving timely payments for their sugarcane — a shift that has sharply reduced their dependence on local moneylenders, locally known as sahukars. Sugarcane procurement rates have also risen, farmers said, giving them greater financial security.

Several farmers also noted that the programme has created an additional market for their crop, giving sugarcane a new sales avenue beyond conventional channels. Bhandari described this as 'ground-level feedback' confirming the programme's benefit to farmers by 'boosting their incomes, reducing debt dependency, and strengthening their economic confidence.'

BJP's Rebuttal to Kejriwal's Criticism

Bhandari's field visit follows Kejriwal's remarks on Saturday, in which the AAP chief claimed that ethanol-blended petrol damages vehicle engines and that farmers would bear losses from the blending mandate. Bhandari pushed back sharply, posting a video on his official X handle.

'Arvind Kejriwal said that ethanol-blended petrol damages a car's engine, however the truth is that it leads to improvement in the car's acceleration,' Bhandari said in the post.

He further asserted that over 3 to 4 crore four-wheelers and more than 20 crore two-wheelers have been operating on approximately 15% ethanol-blended petroleum for the past three years, with no major vehicle damage cases reported so far, he claimed.

Crop-Wise Benefits: Corn, Rice, Sugarcane

Bhandari outlined specific gains for three farming communities. He said corn farmers now contribute around 40% of ethanol used in blended petrol and are receiving ₹2,400 per quintal — a rate he claimed has nearly doubled their income. On rice, he noted that India produces a surplus beyond domestic demand, and the excess is being channelled into ethanol blending, with farmers paid for the additional offtake.

For sugarcane farmers, Bhandari said the sector is now receiving its full payment of ₹25,000 crore, reportedly within 15 days — a marked improvement over earlier delayed payment cycles that pushed farmers into debt.

Political Undercurrent

Bhandari went further, asserting that opposition to ethanol-blended petroleum amounts to 'supporting foreign powers who don't support the country's middle class and farmers' — a charge that escalates the political stakes around what is primarily an energy and agricultural policy debate. The AAP has not yet formally responded to Bhandari's village visit or his specific crop-wise claims.

With the ethanol blending target set to rise under the government's E20 roadmap, the debate over its benefits and risks for both farmers and vehicle owners is likely to intensify in the months ahead.