The government of Telangana has requested the Centre to procure an additional 18 lakh tonnes of paddy from the state. Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and Civil Supplies Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy put forth this request during a meeting with Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Prahlad Joshi in New Delhi. The State officials highlighted various concerns related to paddy procurement and pending dues.
During the meeting, it was discussed that the Food Corporation of India (FCI) should procure the extra 18 lakh tonnes of paddy collected by Telangana during the 2025–26 Kharif season. The Chief Minister emphasized that although approval was given for the procurement of 53.73 lakh tonnes, the State ended up procuring an additional 18 lakh tonnes due to higher production levels. Telangana urged the FCI to acquire this surplus quantity with a 10 percent broken rice tolerance.
In addition to the paddy procurement requests, the Chief Minister sought permission for milling an extra 10 lakh tonnes of boiled rice with a 5 percent broken rice allowance for the 2024–25 Rabi season. He also asked for an extension of two months beyond February 28 for the submission of Custom Milled Rice (CMR) related to the 2024–25 Kharif season. Furthermore, Telangana urged for the immediate settlement of pending dues amounting to Rs 1,468.94 crore owed for rice supplied to FCI during the 2014–15 Kharif season.
The Chief Minister also pressed for the release of Rs 343.27 crore pending for rice supplied under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKAY) from May 2021 to March 2022, including supplies made in April 2022. The meeting was attended by Members of Parliament Dr. Mallu Ravi and Suresh Shetkar, Additional Director of the State Civil Supplies Department Rohit Singh, and Coordinator for Central Government Schemes Dr. Gaurav Uppal.
