Telangana presses Centre for procurement revision

metro india news  I hyderabad

Irrigation and Civil Supplies Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, along with Agriculture Minister Thummala Nageswara Rao, met Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Pralhad Joshi in New Delhi on Tuesday and urged the Centre to revise Telangana's Yasangi (Rabi) 2025-26 rice procurement target in view of the State's record paddy production and procurement.

The Telangana delegation requested the Centre to enhance the existing rice procurement target from 35 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) to 54.50 LMT, corresponding to the 80.09 LMT of paddy already procured during the Rabi season. The Ministers also sought permission to deliver the entire quantity as boiled rice, stating that the paddy cultivated during the Rabi season in Telangana is predominantly suitable for parboiled rice milling.

Highlighting the State's exceptional agricultural performance, Uttam Kumar Reddy informed the Union Minister that Telangana has already procured 80.09 LMT of paddy during Rabi 2025-26, with arrivals continuing from some districts. Combined procurement during Kharif and Rabi in KMS 2025-26 has touched a historic 152 LMT, the highest ever recorded in Telangana and the erstwhile united Andhra Pradesh.

The Ministers pointed out that while Telangana had projected procurement of around 90 LMT of paddy during the Rabi season, the Centre fixed a procurement target equivalent to only 51.47 LMT of paddy. As a result, the State procured nearly 29 LMT more paddy than the quantity covered under the approved target. Despite challenges such as heatwave conditions, labour shortages, storage constraints, transportation bottlenecks, overlapping maize arrivals and unseasonal rains, the State ensured uninterrupted procurement at Minimum Support Price for farmers.

The delegation also sought extension of the Custom Milled Rice delivery schedule, requesting an additional 60 days for pending Rabi 2024-25 deliveries and a further 120 days for Kharif 2025-26 deliveries.

The Ministers highlighted that Telangana had procured 69.50 LMT of paddy over and above Central targets during the last three major procurement seasons, resulting in an additional MSP-related financial burden of nearly Rs 16,446 crore. They urged the Centre to recognise Telangana's changing agricultural landscape, approve the enhanced procurement target, permit boiled rice deliveries and align future procurement targets with actual production estimates to safeguard farmers' interests.