New Delhi, 27 June (IANS). The Ministry of Food has increased the allocation of rice to 5.2 million tonnes to increase ethanol production, due to additional stock with FCI, this allocation has been increased, so that the country’s petrol mixture can help meet the target and reduce dependence on oil imports.
This step will reduce the need to use sugarcane to make alcohol, which will increase sugar production and keep sugar prices under control.
Currently, the Food Corporation of India (FCI) has a stock of about 60 million tonnes of rice and paddy, which is more than 13.5 million tonnes of buffer. A senior official said that the problem of storage also arises due to additional stock and due to lack of space, FCI finds it difficult to buy crops for the next season.
Grain -based ethanol manufacturers were mainly using maize as an input, and this led to bounce in maize prices, which adversely affected poultry farmers, as maize is used as feedstock for chickens.
According to industry sources, an increase in allocation of rice for ethanol production will also help in controlling maize prices. Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri recently said that E -20 ethanol -mixed petrol is now being made available to fuel vehicles at all retail outlets of public sector companies – Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum -.
The minister said that India has achieved the target of 20 percent ethanol mixture in petrol in early 2025, six years before the basic time limit of 2030, and it reflects strong progress in the country’s journey towards clean fuel. The minister said, “This achievement has not only reduced the carbon emissions of the country, but has also saved a huge amount of money. In this process, we have saved more than Rs 1 lakh crore. Foreign currency of Rs 1.5 lakh crore has been left due to the import bill, and we have given it to our farmers.”
-IANS
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