Hyderabad: Telangana is preparing for its highest-ever paddy procurement this kharif season. Irrigation and Civil Supplies Minister Capt N. Uttam Kumar Reddy urged the Centre to revise procurement targets, ease delivery norms, and arrange additional transport and storage.
“We are expecting to procure about 80 lakh metric tonnes of paddy. No other state has handled this volume before. The previous record was 67 LMT,” Reddy said on Monday.
Of the total, 45–50 LMT will be fine paddy and 30–35 LMT coarse. At the MSP of ₹2,389 per quintal, procurement will cost around ₹20,000 crore. Including bonus and transport, the expenditure may rise to ₹24,000–₹26,000 crore.
Minister demands relaxed delivery rules and urgent storage
Reddy objected to the Centre’s mandate that all Custom Milled Rice (CMR) for KMS 2024–25 be parboiled. He noted that kharif paddy suits raw rice conversion better. As of now, 7.80 LMT lies with raw rice millers and 1.67 LMT with parboiled rice units. Telangana requested permission to deliver both types and to defer parboiled rice delivery to the rabi season.
The state still holds 5.44 LMT of kharif CMR and 14.92 LMT from rabi, yet to be lifted. This has stalled milling operations, leaving workers without employment.
Storage capacity has also hit a limit. Of FCI’s 22.61 LMT capacity in Telangana, 21.72 LMT is full. Only 0.89 LMT remains available. Reddy asked the Centre to provide at least 300 special railway rakes per month and to lease extra godown space.
Telangana seeks revised procurement target and rabi lifting
The Centre recently approved procurement of 36 LMT rice (53.73 LMT paddy) for KMS 2025–26. Telangana projects a bumper crop of 148.30 LMT paddy. Reddy requested the Centre to raise the quota to 53.60 LMT rice, equivalent to 80 LMT of paddy.
He also asked for procurement of an additional 10 LMT already collected from the rabi season. Telangana further requested an extension of the procurement deadline from October 31 to January 31, 2026, to allow lifting of 30 more LMT.
OMSS pricing hits farmers, fuels distress sales
Reddy criticised the Centre for releasing rice under OMSS at ₹24 per kg. He said this pushed paddy prices down to ₹16–₹17 per kg in the open market, discouraging private buyers. This, he said, increased farmers’ dependence on MSP operations.
He warned that without immediate action on lifting, storage, and delivery rules, smooth procurement cannot continue. “We must stabilise the market to protect farmers,” he said.
Reddy added that Telangana had consistently surpassed procurement targets. The state supports over 7,000 purchase centres and has strong infrastructure in milling and logistics.