Ethanol: There has been an intense discussion regarding ethanol for the past several days. Meanwhile, there was a discussion regarding E-20 petrol in the Parliament also. So in the recent ongoing monsoon session also, discussions were held regarding ethanol. It has also been revealed in this monsoon session that FCI i.e. Food Corporation of India has sold ethanol to many companies at cheap prices.

Ethanol made from rice!
In fact, recently in the monsoon session of Parliament, the government has told that the Food Corporation of India (FCI) sold rice to ethanol manufacturing distilleries at a price about 40 percent less than its average purchase cost between June 2025 and June 2026. This rice was given under the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS). Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Nimuben Jayantibhai Bambhania, gave this information in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

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At what price was rice sold?
According to the government, between June and October 2025, FCI sold rice to the distillery at a price of Rs 2,250 per quintal. Its price was increased to Rs 2,320 per quintal from November 2025. Whereas FCI’s average cost of purchasing and handling rice was much higher than this. This cost was Rs 3,719.72 per quintal in the financial year 2024-25 and Rs 3,889.46 per quintal in the financial year 2025-26. That means the rice supplied to the distillery was about 40 percent cheaper than the average cost of FCI.

However, the government has also clarified that no separate subsidy on rice was given to the distillery. Rice was sold at the price fixed under domestic OMSS.

Which state got how much rice?
Between June 2025 and June 2026, FCI sent about 63.5 lakh tonnes of rice to ethanol plants. The total price of this rice was around Rs 14,596.78 crore. Haryana got the most rice among the states. About 8.44 lakh tonnes of rice was given to him. After this, Uttar Pradesh got 8.39 lakh tonnes, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh together got 6.59 lakh tonnes, West Bengal got 5.85 lakh tonnes and Madhya Pradesh got about 4.32 lakh tonnes of rice.

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During this time, the government also said that two cases of misappropriation of FCI rice given for ethanol production came to light. After this, the food departments of the respective states started action. FCI stopped further supply of rice to the distilleries involved in both the cases.