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Informist, Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025

 

By Afra Abubacker

 

NEW DELHI – Oil marketing companies have issued orders for the supply of 10.48 billion litres of ethanol in the ethanol year 2025-26 (Nov-Oct), according to industry sources familiar with the tender results of the first procurement cycle. Last month, Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd. had, on behalf of state-owned oil marketing companies, floated a tender seeking the supply of 10.50 billion litres of the biofuel for blending with petrol.

 

The tender had closed on Oct. 7, drawing a robust response from distillers, whose bids added up to 17.76 billion litres, almost 70% more than the quantity sought. Most are keen to supply ethanol made from maize, as it is procured at a premium.

 

GRAIN WINS

As per the tender results, grain-based ethanol continues to dominate India's ethanol-blending programme, accounting for over two-thirds of total supply orders. More than 70% of ethanol in 2025-26 will be made from grains such as maize and rice. The share of sugarcane-based feedstock has fallen to nearly 28% with prices stagnant.

 

Of the total ethanol allocated, 4.79 billion litres, or 45.7%, will come from maize, followed by 2.33 billion litres, or 22.3%, from rice bought from the Food Corp. of India. The share of FCI rice-based ethanol has increased due to the government's mandate to ensure that at least 40% of total grain-based ethanol comes from FCI rice.

 

The government has compelled biofuel production from FCI rice as it wants to offload surplus rice stocks from its godowns. As a result, the Centre has allocated 5.2 million tonnes of rice for sale to distillers in 2025-26, which will yield roughly 2.34 billion litres of ethanol. The orders for supply now nearly match that output.

 

CANE SLIPS

Orders for supply of ethanol from sugarcane-based feedstock account for only around 28% of the total volume. This includes 1.66 billion litres, or 15.8%, from sugarcane juice, 1.10 billion litres, or 10.5%, from B-heavy molasses, and 121.7 million litres, or 1.2%, from C-heavy molasses.

 

The orders indicate that the ethanol-blending programme continues to favour grain-based feedstock over sugarcane in the upcoming season as well. Over the past two years, the government has incentivised ethanol production from grains such as maize and rice, which has created additional demand for maize, prompting farmers to expand cultivation. Maize acreage has risen 12.6% to 9.5 million hectares, according to the latest data.

 

For 2025–26, the government has raised only the procurement price of ethanol made from FCI rice to INR 60.32 per litre, from INR 58.50 last year. Prices of ethanol derived from other feedstocks remain unchanged. Maize-based ethanol continues to fetch the highest price of INR 71.86 per litre. Ethanol from damaged food grain is priced at INR 64.00 per litre.

 

Despite repeated calls from the sugar industry for higher prices for sugarcane-based ethanol to offset rising production costs, rates for cane-based ethanol have remained largely unchanged since 2022–23. Ethanol made from C-heavy molasses is priced at INR 57.97 per litre, from B-heavy molasses at INR 60.73 per litre, and from sugarcane juice at INR 65.61 per litre. 

 

The following table details oil-marketing companies' ethanol supply orders for 2025-26 (Nov-Oct), in million litres, against feedstock: 

 

Feedstock	Supply orders	Share in total orders (%)
Sugarcane juice	1,659.0	15.8
B-heavy molasses	1,105.0	10.5
C-heavy molasses	121.7	1.2
Total sugarcane-based feeds	2,885.7	27.5
Maize	4,789	45.7
FCI rice	2,333	22.3
Damaged foodgrain	476	4.5
Total grain-based feeds	7,598	72.5
Total ethanol supply orders	10,483	100.0

 

End

 

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

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