India shifts Ethanol Blended Petrol reliance from sugarcane to subsidised FCI rice

Gist India’s Ethanol Blended Petrol EBP programme, originally designed to help sugar mills clear farmer dues by utilising sugarcane byproducts, has now become overwhelmingly dependent on food grains. With domestic sugar stocks dwindling and maize production threatened by El Niño, the burden of meeting the aggressive 20% ethanol blending target has fallen heavily on subsidised rice from the Food Corporation of India FCI . Aspirants must understand this shift, as it transforms a renewable energy and agrarian support scheme into a potential threat to food and water security, highlighting the policy conflict between fuel mandates and resource management. Background The Ethanol Blended Petrol EBP programme aims to reduce import dependence on crude oil, cut carbon emissions, and boost farmer incomes by blending plant-derived ethanol with petrol. Initially, ethanol was sourced exclusively from C-heavy molasses , a dark, unrecoverable byproduct of sugarcane processing that allows mills to extract ethanol without reducing their total crystalline sugar output. To increase ethanol supply, the government in 2018-19 allowed production from B-heavy molasses and direct sugarcane juice , incentivising these routes with higher procurement prices…