India allots 5.2M tons of rice for ethanol feedstock

In India, the Hindu Business Line newspaper reports the government has allotted 5.2 million metric tons of rice from its grain stores for use as ethanol feedstock with a priority given to old and broken rice. Traditionally, the sugar industry has provided the bulk of ethanol for the government’s blending mandate but supply challenges in recent years has made its availability inconsistent, pushing the government to support grain-based ethanol distilleries as well. Now the sugar industry is worried about competition and recently asked the government to ensure at least 50% of supplies be alloted to sugarcane-based feedstocks.