Key Points
It seems that the government has realised that allocating rice for ethanol from central pool stocks of the Food Corporation of India is not a good policy choice..
This includes 18.17 mt rice already in stock and 33.47 mt rice, which was yet to be delivered against un-milled paddy..
Our study projected various scenarios until 2025-26 and found that in the best-case scenario, 10.1 billion litres of ethanol would be available from all sources out of which 8.4 billion litres would come from sugarcane, 1.62 billion litres from rice and only 0.11 billion litres from maize...
Due to non-availability of rice for ethanol, the grain-based distilleries will be forced to purchase maize from the open market, which will hopefully deliver MSP to farmers but severely hit the poultry industry..
According to an expert estimate, 16.5 mt of maize, a little less than half of Indias production, may be required for ethanol by 2025 if 20 per cent blending has to be achieved..
