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Informist, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025

 

By Afra Abubacker

 

NEW DELHI – The Centre aims to procure 5.0 million tonnes of custom-milled rice with only 10% broken content in the grain during the 2025–26 (Oct–Sept) kharif marketing season on a pilot basis, according to an official with Food Corp. of India. Until now, the government has been buying rice with up to 25% broken grain for the central pool.

 

The initiative is part of a broader push to improve the quality of rice stocks in the central pool and create a steady supply channel of feedstock for ethanol production. The additional 15% broken rice generated while milling will be diverted for ethanol and animal feed industries. Meanwhile, the better-quality 10% broken rice will be offered to trade through open market sales.

 

Broken rice refers to kernels fractured during milling. A lower percentage of broken grains indicates higher quality and is preferred for dishes such as biryani and pulao, while a higher percentage of broken rice is mostly used in porridges, beer, biofuel, and animal feed.

 

"The objective of reducing broken percentage from 25% to 10% is to make a regular supply channel of feedstock for ethanol production," G.K. Sood, chairman, MEIR Commodities, said. 

 

According to experts, procuring 10% broken rice instead of 25% broken rice is no major upgrade, as 25% broken rice has long been in trade and consumption both locally and internationally.

 

In the first phase, the government will procure 2.0 million tonnes from Punjab, 1.4 million tonnes from Andhra Pradesh, 300,000 tonnes from Chhattisgarh, 500,000 tonnes from Odisha, and 800,000 tonnes from Haryana, the official said.

 

"Procuring 10% broken rice from these five states means that 15% of whatever is normally procured will now be available for distillers to produce ethanol," Sood said. In the 2024–25 kharif marketing season, the government procured 32.6 million tonnes of rice from these five states. With the new procurement scheme, 4.8 million tonnes to 5.0 million tonnes of rice will be available for ethanol production.

 

"If the government expands 10% broken procurement pan-India, then about 7.5 million tonnes of fully broken rice could be available for ethanol production," Sood said. When millers supply 10% broken rice to FCI instead of the earlier 25%, the remaining 15% stays with them. According to Sood, millers can pool these undelivered broken grains and sell them to distillers for ethanol production.

 

According to the official, the pilot target of 5.0 million tonnes is small compared with the overall procurement. For 2025–26, the government has set a kharif rice procurement target of 46.35 million tonnes, slightly lower than 48.5 million tonnes last year. "If the pilot succeeds, the government may expand it going ahead," the official said, adding that the move is also expected to push millers to adopt better milling processes, which could raise FCI's handling costs.

 

Paddy procurement for 2025–26 has already started in Tamil Nadu. As of Thursday, the state has bought 41,771 tonnes of rice. Major producing states such as Punjab will begin operations in October.

 

Unlike wheat, where private players compete with the government to get wheat from farmers, paddy attracts few traders. Most of the harvested paddy is procured at the minimum support price, and the government is grappling with surplus rice stocks. As of Aug. 1, rice stocks in the central pool stood at 38.0 million tonnes, up 16% on year and the highest level in two decades for the month. 

 

To liquidate surplus stocks, FCI has been holding auctions twice a week on Wednesdays and Thursdays. However, rice purchases at FCI auction have been poor amid easy availability of the grain at lower rates in local markets.

 

Expectations of fresh crop arrivals from October also weighed on demand. Farmers have sown paddy over 43.8 million hectares as of Sept. 5, up 5% from last year, government data showed.

 

FCI hopes that the shift to procuring 10% broken rice will help raise demand at auctions and improve sales of its existing stocks. However, Sood is sceptical as the corporation has been struggling to sell the current 25% broken rice variety, which is widely consumed.  End

 

Edited by Ashish Shirke

 

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