The Union cabinet on Wednesday approved a Rs 17,408 crore support to the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) and hiked the price of ethanol extracted from sugarcane for blending in petrol.

The funds to the CCI will be primarily utilised for the repayment of bank loans taken by the state-owned firm for the procurement of cotton during the previous seven marketing years.

Cotton season or marketing year runs from October to September.

The CCI has availed itself of the loans to procure cotton from farmers at the minimum support price.The purchases were for cotton seasons 2014-15 to 2020-21.

The government on Wednesday hiked the price of ethanol extracted from sugarcane for blending in petrol by up to Rs 1.47 per litre for 2021-22 marketing year starting December as part of its target to achieve 20 per cent doping by 2025.

A higher blending of ethanol in petrol will help cut India its oil import bill and also benefit sugar cane farmers as well as sugar mills.

In another decision, the Cabinet approved reservation norms for jute packaging materials for jute year 2021-22.

According to the reservation norms, 100 per cent foodgrains and 20 per cent of sugar will be packed in jute bags during jute year 2021-22 under JPM Act, 1987.

The decision is likely to bring relief to 3,70,000 workers employed in jute mills and ancillary units