Government’s desire to reduce the prices of petrol and diesel in India and promote green energy is now having an un-intended side effect. To promote green energy across the nation, the government is promoting biofuels, relying heavily on biofuels such as E20. However, an unknown effect of this step has started affecting the kitchens of common man. According to experts, due to E20 fuel, questions are not only being raised on the engines of vehicles, but also on the prices of major grains used to make roti, bread, and biscuits.
As per the industry experts a large part of maize is now being diverted to make ethanol, which was earlier used as animal feed. The by-product of maize-based ethanol (called Distillers Dried Grains Soluble (DDGS)) has now become cheaper and more protein rich animal feed. However, owing to this the prices of wheat peel i.e. bran have come down by about 80-100%. This has directly affected the prices of major wheat products such as flour, maida and semolina.
Rohit Khaitan, Director, Shri Shyam Agro Biotech Limited said that milk producers are now giving importance to maize DDGS as it contains more protein and are available at lower prices. Consequently, the demand for wheat bran is falling and millers are raising the prices of flour to cover up the losses they are bearing due to falling demand of whet bran. For the unversed, the share of brain in wheat processing is about 30% of the total production. To cover up the losses occurring due to the fall in bran prices, millers have now increased the prices of wheat products directly related to consumers.
North India Remains Unaffected
However, the torrential rains in North India have brought a great sigh of relief for consumers as the demand for flour, maida, and semolina has decreased in the region resulting in the lower prices of these products. Further, the government has also revised the wheat stock limits https://iref.net/news/centre-revises-wheat-stock-limit-to-manage-food-security/ for traders, stockists, and processors to curb the wheat prices amidst the festive seasons.
Commenting on the situation several experts have expressed their views stressing that the growing desire for biofuel has put indirect pressure on the kitchen. The decreased prices of petrol and diesel may increase the prices of roti and other wheat-based products.