India, April 23 -- The Centre has proposed replacing the 1966 Sugarcane Control Order with a sweeping new regulatory framework that brings ethanol production, digital compliance, and a formal factory approval regime under a single law for the first time, seeking public comments by May 20.

The Union Food Ministry's draft Sugarcane (Control) Order 2026 keeps the skeleton of the old law intact - Fair and Remunerative Price rules, cane movement controls, 14-day payment deadline, and 15 per cent annual interest on delayed payments - but brings in an entirely new architecture suited to an industry that has changed beyond recognition since the Nehru era.

The most significant departure from 1966 is the explicit integration of ethanol into the s...