New Delhi, Sept. 15 -- Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Hardeep Singh Puri, on Monday said that ethanol-blended petrol does not adversely affect vehicles and dismissed claims of controversy surrounding the government's ethanol blending programme.

Addressing reporters in Varanasi, Minister Puri said, "There is no impact on vehicles."

Minister Puri further emphasised that the ethanol programme transforms India's farmers into energy providers while strengthening energy security. He highlighted that ethanol blending has saved the country Rs 1.4 lakh crore in crude oil imports and contributed to lower pollution.

"The Government of India had decided that by November 2020, we would achieve 10% ethanol blending. This objective was...