Mumbai: The Centre’s policy to blend 20 percent ethanol with petrol will come into effect from April 1, 2026, and ethanol can be produced from several raw materials including molasses from sugarcane, agricultural residues and starch-based crops such as maize and potatoes, Food and Civil Supplies Minister Chhagan Bhujbal informed the state assembly on Friday, Agrowon reported.
In a written reply, Bhujbal said the policy is based on the National Policy on Biofuels 2018 announced by the Centre on June 4, 2018. Under this policy, ethanol can also be produced from wheat that is not suitable for human consumption and broken rice. He added that the government reviews foodgrain production and allows surplus stocks to be diverted for ethanol production.
The clarification came after MLAs Anil Patil, Dhananjay Munde and Samadhan Avtade raised concerns that the use of broken rice instead of maize for ethanol production was affecting maize growers. They also pointed out that maize farmers are receiving prices nearly 30 percent lower than the minimum support price.
Responding to the issue, Bhujbal said that according to an order issued by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution on September 1, 2025, distilleries have been permitted to purchase surplus rice available with the Food Corporation of India for ethanol production between November 1, 2025 and June 30, 2026. He said up to 52 lakh metric tonnes of surplus rice can be sold to distilleries during this period.
The minister also clarified that maize procured under the minimum support price scheme is distributed through the Public Distribution System in line with the Centre’s policy and is not purchased for ethanol production.
Bhujbal said that during the 2025–26 marketing season, around 60,035 farmers from 16 districts registered to sell maize to the government under the support price procurement scheme. Out of these, maize has been procured from 12,269 farmers in 14 districts.
A total of 5,11,535.9 quintals of maize have been purchased at the minimum support price of Rs 2,400 per quintal, he said.
Initially, the Centre had set a target to procure 6.6 lakh quintals of maize. Later, an additional target of 5 lakh quintals was approved. The minister said the deadline for procurement has been extended until March 31, 2026, which is expected to increase the overall purchase of maize.
