Mumbai: Slamming people opposing ethanol, veteran politician Pasha Patel, Chairman of the Maharashtra State Agricultural Price Commission and Executive Chairman of the Chief Minister's Environment and Sustainable Development Task Force, said that even Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru has realised its importance when it was known as power alcohol.
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“There is a lot of misinformation about ethanol now a days…people have formed what is known as the Ethanol Janta Party to discredit…let’s not speak about it without having proper knowledge,” said Patel, a former BJP MLC, who is known as Bamboo Man of India.
Patel’s comment came at the Bharat Ethanol Forum: Fuelling Bharat, Powering Growth in Mumbai.
“Ethanol was born in Brazil in 1931. In 1930, sugarcane prices had crashed in the Latin American country. To show that sugarcane is not only for sugar but can also run vehicles, the Brazilian government began producing what was then called "power alcohol" and running automobiles on it,” he said.
“So, where was India then? We were not behind. In Mandya, Krishnaraja Wadiyar of Mysore set up a sugar factory in the 1930s, began producing power alcohol by 1940, and ensured a law by 1945. What a remarkable feat,” he said.
"But there is more to the story. Did our national leaders know about this? I procured a copy of The Discovery of India, because I was told Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru knew about ethanol. In it, Pandit Nehru wrote that the country needed power alcohol but could not make it, because the British oil-marketing company Burmah-Shell would not allow it. Until the British left, Burmah-Shell would not leave, and until Burmah-Shell left, India could not produce power alcohol,” said Patel, who is known for his outspoken nature and firebrand oratory.
“The man who recognised this became Prime Minister soon after. He was Prime Minister for nearly two decades, his daughter Indira Gandhi and her son Rajiv Gandhi…. then there was PV Narasimha Rao and then Manmohan Singh. Yet for 60 years, ethanol was never introduced,” the said.
“Its was then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee listened to our voice and took the decision to blend 5% ethanol into petrol. Nobody objected. E10 came, no problem….E20 came, still no problem. But the moment our Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the ambition of flex-fuel engines running on 100% ethanol, the commission lobby felt the pain. They decided it must be opposed at all costs,” the said.
Patel said that ethanol producers also need to speak out and debunk the campaign against it.
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