Odisha plans to supply broken rice for ethanol as paddy cultivation rises

The Odisha government is planning to supply broken rice for ethanol production, with more farmers taking up paddy cultivation following an increase in the procurement rate, officials said on Tuesday.

The state has the main ethanol plant in Bargarh district, which uses both rice grain and rice straw to produce the item for fuel blending, they said.

There are smaller ethanol plants in the state as well, utilising grain feedstock, with the Food Corporation of India (FCI) allocating surplus rice to them for the ethanol blended petrol (EBP) programme.

A discussion regarding the proposal was held at the first meeting of the Inter-Ministerial Committee for procurement for the Kharif 2025-26 season on Monday, officials said.

The meeting, chaired by Deputy CM KV Singh Deo, who is in charge of the Agriculture and Farmer Empowerment Department, discussed the preparation of a roadmap for post-paddy purchase management, they said.

The government has planned to procure the Kharif crops by the end of November.

"The government is planning to supply the broken rice for the ethanol production," an official said.

"The meeting also discussed distribution of free rice to poor families through various schemes and export to other countries," he said.

Due to the procurement of paddy at Rs 3,100 per quintal by the state government, many farmers have shifted to paddy cultivation. Therefore, there has been a 29 per cent year-on-year increase in the registration of new farmers, he added.

To ensure proper utilisation of paddy after procurement, the meeting resolved to build more warehouses, the official said.

"This will be done by FCI, Cooperation Department, and State Warehousing Corporation. However, after procurement of a certain amount of rice by FCI, the surplus rice management is also very crucial," he said.

It was decided in the meeting that permanent model 'mandis' will be constructed in coordination with various departments, he said.

"Accordingly, the roadmap is being prepared. It will include opening more rice mills and upgrading existing mills to hybrid mills," he said.