Government may be forced to dipose of the grain via sales to ethanol distilleries and open market
The Indian government’s rice procurement for the official reserves during the October 2025-April 2026 period has reached near 50 million tonnes (mt), including 1.21 mt from the winter-grown crop. With over 1.4 mt in April, the procurement is up 6 per cent from the year-ago period. This high procurement may force the government to dispose of through an aggressive sales policy to ethanol distilleries, states, as well as in the open market.
The government has fixed a target to purchase 56.66 mt of rice during the 2025-26 season (October-September) – including 48.7 mt from the kharif-grown crop and 7.96 mt from the Rabi season. Total procurement in 2024-25 from kharif and rabi crops was 54.52 mt in terms of rice.
According to official data, the actual procurement in terms of rice was 49.86 mt until April 30, against 47.02 mt in the corresponding period of the previous season. In 2025-26, the government sold a record 10.8 mt rice, including 5.2 mt to distilleries for ethanol production, from official reserves, as against a total 4.53 mt in 2024-25..
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