“The benefits of ethanol production are being directly transferred to 779 industries, leaving farmers at the mercy of the market,” Jat said.In the current market season of 2025–26, the government has announced plans to procure 1,048 crore litres of ethanol for blending with petrol in an 80:20 ratio, known as E20. Over 72% of this ethanol will be sourced from maize, while the remainder will come from sugar.Currently, India produces 422.81 lakh tonnes of maize across 120.17 lakh hectares, which accounts for three per cent of global production, while the US contributes 35 per cent of the total output. There are widespread market speculations that similar to cotton, India may permit the import of cheap maize from the US, contributing to the price drop.“Industries are taking advantage of the low prices to produce cheaper ethanol from maize and sell it to the government,” Jat remarked.According to calculations by Kisan Mahapanchayat, the price of ethanol would be Rs 54.52 per litre based on a maximum maize price of Rs 1,821 per quintal.Caught in the MazePrice CrashMaize has come down to Rs 1,121 per quintal in Nasrullaganj maize mandi in Madhya Pradesh, Rs 1,100 per quintal in Nahargadh mandi in Rajasthan, and as low as Rs 900 per quintal in BiharElusive MSPThe government has set MSP for maize at Rs 2,400 per quintal, which is not realised in most mandisCost MismatchOfficials estimate the production cost for a quintal of maize at Rs 1,952 Robust Production The country produces 422.81 lakh tonnes of maize across 120.17 lakh hectares
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42 Umrah pilgrims from Telangana killed in bus-tanker collision in Saudi
A bus carrying Umrah pilgrims, most of them reportedly from Hyderabad, caught fire in Saudi Arabia after colliding…
