Govt to use FCI’s surplus rice for making hand-sanitiser, ethanol-blended petrol

At the meeting of NBCC it was approved that the surplus rice available with FCI could be converted into ethanol for utilization in making alcohol-based hand-sanitizers and ethanol-blended petrol (EBP), an official statement said.

The government on Monday allowed use of surplus rice available with Food Corporation of India (FCI) in making of hand-sanitiser, and blending with petrol at a meeting of the National Biofuel Coordination Committee (NBCC) chaired by petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

A labourer carries sacks containing rice grain to store at a Food Corporation of India (FCI) warehouse during lockdown in Jammu, on Saturday, April 18, 2020. (Photo by Nitin Kanotra / Hindustan Times)

At the meeting of NBCC, it was approved that the surplus rice available with FCI could be converted into ethanol for utilization in making alcohol-based hand-sanitizers and ethanol-blended petrol (EBP), an official statement said.

“National Policy on Biofuels, 2018 ... envisages that during an agriculture crop year when there is projected over supply of food grains as anticipated by the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, the policy will allow conversion of these surplus quantities of food grains to ethanol, based on the approval of National Biofuel Coordination Committee (NBCC),” an official statement said.