New Delhi: The Central Government has allowed the Food Corporation of India, FCI, to sell rice to distilleries for the production of ethanol, capping a quantity limit of 23 lakh metric tonnes for this purpose. A decision to that effect was announced on Thursday.
According to an order from the Department of Food and Public Distribution, distilleries will be allowed to participate in an e-auction and purchase the rice during the period from August to October 2024, based on the final auction rates set weekly. The order emphasized that the rice will be available for purchase only if the distilleries have received an ethanol allocation from Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) using FCI rice as a raw material.
The order further clarified that a maximum of 23 lakh metric tonnes of rice will be made available for distilleries to lift for ethanol production.
The Food Ministry’s directive states that distilleries can acquire rice through FCI’s Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS). Last July, the government temporarily halted the supply of FCI rice to distilleries for ethanol production.
