Newsletter
Milk prices are up, sugar prices are up, and now eggs are also joining India’s inflation party.
What’s going on: egg prices have surged 35-40% over the past year, reaching nearly ₹7 apiece at the farm level and around ₹8.50-9 in retail markets. But here’s the interesting bit. The price hike has an ethanol connection.
The why: India’s push towards 20% ethanol-blended petrol has increased demand for maize and sugarcane to produce biofuel. According to the National Egg Co-ordination Committee (NECC), this has tightened the availability of maize for other industries, including poultry.
In simple terms, maize is a key ingredient in chicken feed. But as more maize gets diverted towards making ethanol, its availability for poultry feed gets tighter, potentially pushing up costs for egg producers.
How are maize and ethanol connected: maize has gone from being a minor ethanol feedstock just a few years ago to accounting for nearly half of the ethanol India blends into petrol. It is now the country’s single-largest raw material for ethanol production.
And the diversion has grown rapidly. Parliamentary data shows the amount of grain used for biofuel has risen from around 1 million tonnes in 2022 to more than 6 million tonnes in 2024 and around 17 million tonnes currently. Market projections suggest this could reach 25 million tonnes by 2030.
At the same time, maize production has also increased significantly, reaching a record 55.09 million tonnes in 2024-25, up from 43.41 million tonnes a year earlier.
What is the industry expecting: poultry industry executives expect egg prices to remain firm and potentially rise further as winter demand picks up.
But ethanol isn't the only factor. Heat stress, bird mortality, weather disruptions and the cost and availability of other feed ingredients can also affect egg production and prices.
