The Union Food Secretary Sanjeev Chopra told CNBC-TV18 that India's wheat procurement this year is likely to be more than last year. India's wheat procurement had reduced to 188 lakh tonne in Rabi season 2022-23 from 433 lakh tonnes in 2021-22. The Food Ministry is yet to undertake internal consultations on a request by Flour Mills Assocations for more allocation of wheat.
The Food Secretary said that the ministry will take a call "once a decision is reached on the extension of PMGKY" as well as based on the real-time wheat stock situation.
"In-principle approval was accorded to 95 ethanol production units on November 21, 2022. Besides, units in the pipeline that have been given in principle approval earlier, will create an additional capacity of 325 crore litres," the food secretary said.
The Union Government plans to add 325 crore litre of capacity by December 2023, in addition to India's current ethanol production capacity of 925 crore litre. There are also plans for additional ethanol production capacity of 1,043 crore litre, but they hinge on land and environmental clearances.
The Food Secretary said that the industry has welcomed the recently issued guidelines for ethanol production from sugar and grain-based feedstocks, which aim to help distilleries identify quantity of the ethanol produced from different routes.
He added that the OMCs assisting and facilitating private companies participating in the tendering process are aiming for an even geographical spread of ethanol distilleries across India to ensure lesser cost and time.
