To provide relief to maize growers, the State government on Sunday issued order, enabling the Karnataka State Cooperative Marketing Federation (KSCMF) to procure maize from farmers and supply it to distilleries for production of ethanol.
The KSCMF’s intervention comes after distillers pointed out at the high cost of ₹2,639 per quintal, including minimum support price and other costs, if they had to purchase maize from NAFED or NCCF.
The KSCMF will now supply maize at ₹2,400 per quintal, and the State government will foot the additional financial burden.
The order follows a meeting of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah with representatives of distilleries on Friday. As per the Centre’s directive, about seven lakh tonnes of maize is to be procured this season at a minimum support price of ₹2,400 per tonne. With good rainfall, the estimated production of maize in Karnataka this season is about 54.74 lakh tonnes on an area of about 17. 41 lakh hectares.
The distilleries have pointed out that the Centre had not revised the ethanol price in the last three years while the minimum support for maize had been revised. They have expressed inability to purchase maize since the minimum limit of ethanol production has been fixed and not the maximum limit. The distilleries feared financial loss if maize had to be purchased at ₹2,639 per quintal.
