The Central Government has approved an additional allocation of 28 lakh tones (LT) of rice for ethanol production, raising the total allocation to 52 LT for the 2024�25 Ethanol Supply Year (ESY), which began on November 1, 2024. This is in addition to the 24 LT already allocated earlier. The issue price for this rice remains unchanged at ₹22.50 per kg. According to an official memorandum issued last week by the Ministry of Food, the full 24 LT previously sanctioned has been allocated by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) to distilleries. However, ethanol producers have so far lifted less than 10 LT. The decision to increase the allocation was made after assessing the feedstock requirements and availability against what could potentially be produced using FCI rice. Production Potential and Financial Implications Assuming a yield of 470 litres of ethanol per tonne of rice, the 52 LT allocation could generate approximately 245 crore litres of ethanol. At the fixed issue price, distilleries will pay around ₹11,700 crore to the FCI. Meanwhile, the government is expected to bear a subsidy cost of around ₹10,000 crore, since the economic cost of rice for 2025�26 is estimated at ₹41.73/kg�₹19.23 higher than the issue price. Based on the current ethanol procurement price of ₹58.50 per litre set by the government, distilleries are expected to generate revenue of approximately ₹14,300 crore from selling ethanol produced from the entire 52 LT rice quota to oil marketing companies. Progress on Ethanol Blending Targets The move supports India�s Ethanol Blending with Petrol (EBP) programme, under which the government aims to achieve an 18% ethanol blending rate during the current ESY (ending October 31, 2025), and 20% in 2025�26. Notably, the EBP rate has already surpassed 18.5% during the first half of the current ESY (November 2024 to April 2025), indicating strong progress toward national energy targets.