3 weeks ago
Ethanol Push Could Risk Food Security, Khammam MP Warns
Some leaders in India make sure the government is helping everyone fairly.
One leader, called an MP, asked a big question in the Parliament of India.
He is worried that too much sugarcane, rice and maize is being used to make fuel for cars.
If we use food to make fuel, there might not be enough food for people to eat.
Food could become more expensive too.
Farmers might stop growing healthy crops like millets and instead grow only sugarcane.
Sugarcane needs a lot of water, and many places in India do not have enough water.
The MP also asked how much money workers are paid.
A government minister answered, saying workers' wages are checked and updated over time.
A new law about wages, called the Code on Wages, started on November 21, 2025.
Khammam MP Ramasahayam Raghuram Reddy raised concerns in the Lok Sabha that diverting food crops for ethanol production could threaten food security.
He warned that the rapid expansion of ethanol production using sugarcane, rice and maize could trigger a 'food versus fuel' crisis.
Reddy said diverting foodgrains to ethanol could reduce their availability for domestic consumption and exports and push up food prices.
He flagged that a farmer shift to sugarcane could affect nutritional security, and that sugarcane's high water use could worsen groundwater depletion in water-stressed regions.
Union Minister of State Shobha Karandlaje said NSSO wage data from 600 villages across 20 states is available up to June 2025, wage rates are revised with the Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers, and the Code on Wages, 2019 took effect on November 21, 2025.
- Who
- Khammam MP Ramasahayam Raghuram Reddy raised the issue in the Lok Sabha; Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment Shobha Karandlaje gave a written reply.
- What
- Warnings that diverting food crops to ethanol production could threaten food security, plus a parliamentary exchange on workers' real wages and living conditions.
- Where
- Lok Sabha, India's lower house of Parliament.
- When
- Monday, during Parliament's Monsoon Session; the reply cites wage data available up to June 2025 and minimum wages notified as on March 30, 2026.
- Why
- To flag a potential 'food versus fuel' crisis and to seek government details on worker wages and living standards.
Key facts
- MP raising the issue
- Ramasahayam Raghuram Reddy, Khammam
- Venue
- Lok Sabha, under Rule 377, Monsoon Session
- Main concern
- Potential 'food versus fuel' crisis from growing ethanol production using sugarcane, rice and maize
- Related concerns
- Higher food prices, reduced food availability and exports, lower nutritional security, groundwater depletion
- Replied by
- Shobha Karandlaje, Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment (written reply)
- Wage data
- National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) survey of 600 villages across 20 states; data available up to June 2025
- Wage revision
- Rates revised periodically per the Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW); minimum wages notified as on March 30, 2026
- Code on Wages, 2019
- Came into force on November 21, 2025
Sources
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