Egg, the cheapest source of protein, is burning a hole in the pocket. Egg prices have surged by around 40% within a year, with farm-gate prices touching about Rs 7 per egg and retail prices reaching nearly Rs 9. With demand for eggs typically rising during winter in India, poultry farmers and industry experts are warning that prices could come under further pressure in the months ahead. Experts suggest there is an ethanol angle to this surge in egg and poultry prices.
Maize is at the centre of attention in the latest egg price shock. This is because maize is one of the most important ingredients in poultry feed. In recent years, India has been diverting maize for its Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) programme. So, India-grown maize has moved away from becoming poultry feed to powering E20 petrol, and it is one of the key reasons why egg prices are soaring.
Fitness influencer Chirag Barjatya also highlighted the sharp rise in the price of eggs, calling attention to the growing cost of one of India’s cheapest sources of protein. “Eggs are now costing Rs 9–10 per piece. Almost 40% hike,” Barjatya posted on X, pointing to how the increase is making even basic protein sources more expensive for consumers.
He also highlighted the rising prices of other protein-rich foods, saying whey protein now costs around Rs 4,200 per kg, while high-protein paneer is priced at about Rs 180. Barjatya argued that maintaining a high-protein diet is becoming increasingly expensive, particularly for vegetarians, with the cost of a 100-gram-protein daily diet potentially reaching Rs 10,000–12,000 a month.
According to Compound Livestock Feed Manufacturers Association (CLFMA) of India Chairman Divya Kumar Gulati, corn accounts for roughly 50–55% of poultry feed, with soybeans making up much of the remaining major component. The prices of these two ingredients therefore have a direct bearing on the cost of producing eggs and chicken.
“Poultry’s 50–55% of feed consists of corn [maize]. The remaining comes from soyabean. These two determine the price of the feed of the poultry. This later decides the price of eggs and chicken,” Gulati told Economic Times (ET) Now television network on August 25.
The pressure on maize has intensified as India has rapidly expanded its EBP programme. Increasing quantities of maize that would traditionally have been available to feed manufacturers are now being channelled towards ethanol distilleries.
Data from the National Egg Coordination Committee (NECC) suggests that the price of eggs has shot up by 40% in the last one year.
Samajwadi Party criticised the BJP-led Centre and alleged that the rise in the price of eggs is due to the diversion of maize to ethanol production.
“Due to the BJP’s wrong ethanol policy, even the poor’s cheap protein source, eggs, are about to be removed from the poor’s plate. On one side, eggs, sugar, everything is getting expensive, and the BJP’s policy of cheap petrol is failing,” the party posted on X on Thursday.
Maize and soyabean are the major cost components for poultry farmers, with nearly 65–75% of egg production costs going towards feed, in which these two ingredients form the bulk.
HOW MUCH MAIZE IS BEING DIVERTED TO ETHANOL DISTILLERIES?
The numbers show how dramatically maize has shifted towards ethanol distilleries.
According to a Lok Sabha reply by Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Nimuben Jayantibhai Bambhaniya in 2025, 125.75 lakh metric tonnes of maize were utilised for ethanol production during Ethanol Supply Year (ESY) 2024–25.
Maize-based distilleries had been allocated 477.8 crore litres of ethanol during that supply year.
The increase has been rapid. In just two years, maize use for ethanol jumped from 8.3 lakh tonnes to 125.75 lakh tonnes, an increase of more than 15 times.
An allocation of about 125.78 lakh tonnes has also been cited for ESY 2025–26, although actual utilisation can differ from allocation.
This surge has also changed the composition of India’s ethanol industry. Maize has now emerged as the single largest feedstock for ethanol production, overtaking other individual feedstocks as grain-based ethanol production expands under the EBP programme.
That represents a fundamental change in the maize market.
HOW INDIA TURNED FROM MAIZE EXPORTER TO A NET IMPORTER
India’s maize production has increased considerably, but so has competing demand. The government data put the production of Maize at 316 lakh tonnes in 2020–21 and 434 lakh tonnes in 2024–25, a rise of nearly 37% over four years.
Yet the rise in production has not prevented pressure on prices because ethanol, poultry feed, starch and other industries are all competing for the crop.
And the trade data on maize offer another indication of the tightening domestic balance.
India exported around 34.53 lakh tonnes of maize in the financial year (FY) 2022–23. Exports fell to 14.42 lakh tonnes in 2023–24, a decline of about 58%. Then the exports fell to just 5.56 lakh tonnes in 2024–25, another slump of around 61%.
At the same time, imports increased from around 1.37 lakh tonnes in 2023–24 to 9.70 lakh tonnes in 2024–25, a jump of more than 600%.
It means India moved from being a major maize exporter to a net importer in FY2024–25.
WHY RISING MAIZE PRICES IS REFLECTING IN COST OF EGGS
This is significant for poultry because maize is not simply another feed ingredient. It is a major source of energy in poultry diets. When its price rises, feed manufacturers have little choice but to pass at least part of the additional cost down the chain.
The market prices reflect that pressure. National average wholesale maize prices were broadly around Rs 2,150–2,370 per quintal during 2024, while some 2025 prices crossed Rs 2,400 per quintal.
In 2026, prices initially moderated, but recent mandi prices have again been reported at around Rs 2,300–2,645 per quintal, with considerable variation across markets.
For the poultry sector, the problem is therefore not simply that maize is expensive. It is that the same crop is increasingly being pulled into a new and rapidly expanding market.
More maize going into ethanol means less maize competing for poultry feed, unless production rises fast enough to meet both demands. And when that balance tightens, the impact can travel from the maize mandi to the feed mill and eventually to the price of an egg.
WHY EGG PRICES IN INDIA ARE LIKELY TO RISE FURTHER
Poultry feed represents a major share of the cost of producing eggs. Industry estimates put feed at around 65–70% of egg production costs, making poultry extremely sensitive to changes in maize and soybean prices.
This is why the recent rise in egg prices is being linked so closely to the ethanol programme.
India’s egg production is also rising, but the pace of growth has slowed in recent years. After growing by around 6–7% annually between 2020–21 and 2022–23, growth moderated to 3.18% in 2023–24 and 4.44% in 2024–25, even as total production reached a record 149.11 billion eggs.
The prices of the cheapest source of protein egg have risen by 40% over the past year as increasing maize diversion towards ethanol pushed up poultry feed costs. According to the Economic Times report, experts expect further pressure as winter demand picks up.
Timing is another important dimension to the story.
Egg consumption typically rises during the winter months. Demand from households, hotels, restaurants and other institutional buyers tends to strengthen as temperatures fall. If feed costs remain elevated while demand increases, poultry farmers could face another round of price pressure.
That is why the current 40% rise may not necessarily represent the end of the story.
IS ETHANOL THE ONLY REASON FOR THE EGG PRICE SURGE?
Ethanol diversion is clearly an important source of additional maize demand, but it would be too simplistic to say that every rupee added to the price of an egg is caused by ethanol.
Maize prices are also influenced by production, weather, arrivals, storage, exports and imports. Poultry feed contains soybean meal as well, whose price can independently affect production costs. Egg prices themselves are affected by seasonal demand, poultry flock sizes, disease outbreaks and regional supply conditions.
The government’s own position is that maize availability remains sufficient for ethanol, poultry and other uses. The Centre has also pointed to rising maize production as evidence that supplies are expanding.
So ethanol alone causing the egg-price rise would not be the stronger argument, but that the rapid diversion of maize into ethanol has added as a major source of demand to an already competitive market.
This is not the only instance of diversion of a commodity for ethanol production being blamed for a surge in food prices.
The diversion of cane for ethanol has been blamed as a factor for the surge in sugar prices to a record high last week.
In the case of rising prices of eggs, the maize link is clear because it is a core poultry-feed ingredient, and ethanol is now competing directly with poultry for that crop.
The country is producing more maize than it did five years ago. But it is also finding more uses for every tonne produced. This is the central tension behind the egg-price surge.
– Ends
Published By:
Avinash Kateel
Published On:
Aug 27, 2026 15:02 IST
