India, May 12 -- The Union government has approved an additional 2.8 million tonnes of Food Corporation of India (FCI) rice for ethanol production in 2024-25, raising the total allocation to 5.2 million tonnes despite ongoing concerns over the diversion of food grains for fuel instead of food security.

The allocation applied to the ethanol supply year (ESY) 2024-25, which runs from December 2024 to October 2025, according to an official communication issued last week by the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution. This allocation came on top of the 2.4 million tonnes sanctioned earlier.

Of the total amount of rice sanctioned under the Union government's Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) programme, distilleries had al...