Civil Supplies dept draws up Kharif paddy procurement plan

Metro India News | Hyderabad

Preparing for the Kharif 2026-27 paddy procurement season, the Telangana Civil Supplies department convened a high-level strategic review meeting at the Civil Supplies Bhavan, Hyderabad on Tuesday.

Senior officials have formulated a comprehensive logistics and infrastructure roadmap. To ensure sufficient holding capacity ahead of arrivals, the Civil Supplies department is finalising plans to request district collectors across the state to actively identify and secure all viable storage infrastructure.

The department is exploring options of diverse spaces where available, including godowns, market yards, vacant industrial sheds, function halls, open spaces, and Cover and Plinth (CAP) storage. Concurrently, rapid stock evacuation drives are being planned to clear existing godowns and make maximum space ready for incoming paddy.

Additionally, the Agriculture MARKFED department are actively clearing their respective storage spaces and godowns, assuring that space will be made available by the time procurement begins.

In expanding storage space, the department is accelerating the modernisation and mechanisation of PPCs. The review assessed the progress on procuring automatic paddy cleaners and modern mechanical stackers, which are aimed at speeding up grain handling at the grassroots level, minimising turnaround time for farmers, and eliminating logistical bottlenecks during peak procurement.

Looking toward long-term systemic upgrades, officials also conducted an review of an automated "Farm to Silo" operational framework. The phased transition was evaluated across every operational node, including digital weighbridges, scientific sampling of paddy, pre-cleaning systems, grain dryers, automated bulk silos, and integrated milling linkages. The high-level coordination meeting was chaired by M. Stephen Raveendra, Ex-Officio Principal Secretary and Commissioner of Civil Supplies department.