The Minister emphasised that only surplus foodgrains, as determined by the Department of Food & Public Distribution after meeting all food security requirements and maintaining prescribed buffer stocks, are permitted for ethanol production. | Photo Credit: SRINATH M

In the current Ethanol Supply Year (ESY 2025-26), around 3.9 million tonnes of surplus Food Corporation of India (FCI) rice and roughly 6.8 million tonnes (mt) of maize has been used till June 2026 for ethanol production.

In a written response to a query in Rajya Sabha on Monday, Minister of State for Petroleum & Natural Gas Suresh Gopi said “The target of 20 per cent ethanol blending has not affected food crop availability or India’s food security.”

The Minister emphasised that only surplus foodgrains, as determined by the Department of Food & Public Distribution after meeting all food security requirements and maintaining prescribed buffer stocks, are permitted for ethanol production.

The programme follows a “waste-to-wealth” approach by utilising surplus agricultural produce, including damaged foodgrains, broken rice and foodgrains unfit for human consumption, as well as other approved feedstocks, which might otherwise remain underutilised or deteriorate in storage, he added.

The average retail price of sugar in the country is presently in the reasonable range. Only surplus sugar is being diverted for ethanol production. Further, annual increase in retail sugar prices is around 2.5 per cent in comparison to previous sugar season 2024-25, Gopi said.

“As far as rice is concerned, there is no impact of diversion of surplus FCI rice on retail food inflation, as rice available in excess is only being diverted for ethanol production, after meeting the requirements of the National Food Security Act (NFSA), Other Welfare Schemes (OWS) and maintaining buffer stocks,” he emphasized.

In a separate question in Rajya Sabha on Monday, Gopi had said that during ESY 2023-24 (November 2023-October 2024), the PSU oil marketing companies (OMCs) procured 679.04 crore litres of ethanol for ₹48,757.01 crore, which rose to 1,033.31 crore litres procured for ₹73,996.48 crore in ESY 2024-25. In ESY 2025-26 (Till June 2026), OMCs procured 705.43 crore litres for ₹49,577.36 crore.

The Minister also clarified that there is no proposal to mandate the availability of non-blended or lower-blend petrol at select retail outlets. The Government’s policy is to progressively transition towards cleaner, technologically superior and environmentally sustainable fuels in accordance with the National Policy on Biofuels and the Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme.

Published on July 21, 2026