Oil Marketing Companies Propose Additional 149 Crore Litres Ethanol Allocation For Fourth Quarter Before Supreme Court

The Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) have proposed an additional allocation of 149 crore litres of ethanol for the fourth quarter (August-October 2026) of Ethanol Supply Year (ESY) 2025-26.

Of this, 55.5 crore litres is proposed to be allocated to 80 Dedicated Ethanol Plant (DEP) bidders.

Under the proposal, 71 DEP-1 bidders would receive 52.2 crore litres. Nine DEP-2 bidders would receive another 3.3 crore litres. The remaining 93.3 crore litres would go to 122 other bidders.

The Supreme Court on August 4 took the OMCs' allocation methodology on record. Attorney General R. Venkataramani supplied the note to the bench of Justices M.M. Sundresh and Prasanna B. Varale.

The court also gave its imprimatur to the suggestion as an interim arrangement, pending the final orders in the connected Special Leave Petitions. It said the arrangement would operate without prejudice to the contentions of the parties.

VINP Distilleries and Sugars Pvt. Ltd. is proposed to receive an additional 1.25 crore litres under the methodology. The company had offered 2.08 crore litres for Q4 and had already been allocated 0.83 crore litres.

The allocation comes after the Supreme Court's July 16 suggestion that the OMCs explore whether additional quantities could be offered to eligible Q4 bidders in a fair and equitable manner. It states that the present methodology was prepared following that suggestion.

The OMCs have proposed the allocation as an interim arrangement during the pendency of the proceedings. The proposal is without prejudice to their rights, contentions, submissions, objections, and grounds.

The note states that it will not amount to an admission, concession, waiver, acquiescence, or abandonment of any position. It will also remain subject to further orders of the Supreme Court.

Under the C1 Tender, 378 bidders were found eligible. They submitted bids for an aggregate of 1,759 crore litres against a published requirement of 1,050 crore litres across all four quarters of ESY 2025-26.

For Q4, 262 bidders offered a total of 369 crore litres. Of this, 220 crore litres had already been allocated. This left an additional requirement of 149 crore litres.

The proposed methodology is based on the unallocated balance of each bidder's Q4 offer.

The additional allocation would be calculated by subtracting the quantity already allocated for Q4 from the quantity offered in the C1 Tender.

For example, a bidder that offered two crore litres for Q4 but had already been allocated 1.5 crore litres would receive an additional 50 lakh litres.

Of the 262 Q4 bidders, 60 had already received 100% of their offered quantity. Together, they had been allocated 42 crore litres and would receive no additional quantity.

The remaining 202 bidders had collectively offered 327 crore litres. Against this, 178 crore litres had already been allocated. They would receive the entire 149 crore litres proposed for additional allocation.

These 202 bidders have been divided into three categories.

The first comprises 71 DEP-1 bidders, who would receive 52.2 crore litres. The second comprises nine DEP-2 bidders, who would receive 3.3 crore litres.

The third comprises 122 other bidders, who would receive 93.3 crore litres.

The note also states that the nine writ petitioners before the Patna High Court would collectively receive an additional 6.15 crore litres.

The detailed annexure sets out the bidder-wise allocation for all 202 bidders. The bidders are spread across several States, including Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal.

The Supreme Court directed that all the matters, including the transferred proceedings, be listed on September 23, 2026.

Click Here To Read/Download Supreme Court's July 16, 2026 Order