Irrigation Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy argued that Kharif paddy is more suitable for raw rice conversion, which also provides flexibility in despatches to various States.
| Photo Credit: SRINATH M
Irrigation and Civil Supplies Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy sought permission from the Central Government to deliver raw rice, additional storage support to ease a crisis in FCI godowns and a higher procurement target for the forthcoming Kharif season.
In two separate letters, the Minister urged the Centre for urgent action on rice procurement and delivery rules. In the first letter, he urged the Centre to modify its order that extended the deadline for Custom Milled Rice (CMR) delivery from the Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2024-25 up to 12 November 2025, but with the condition that all balance stocks must be delivered to the Food Corporation of India (FCI) only as parboiled rice.
He argued that Kharif paddy is more suitable for raw rice conversion, which also provides flexibility in despatches to various States. Of the available stock, 7.8 lakh metric tonnes (LMTs) remain with raw rice millers while 1.67 LMTs of paddy (equivalent to 1.13 LMTs of rice) are with boiled rice millers, making it difficult to supply only parboiled rice. The Minister requested permission to deliver CMR as both raw and boiled rice depending on availability, and offered to shift the boiled rice target of Kharif 2024-25 to the Rabi 2024-25 season to meet Government of India’s requirements.
He also flagged an immediate storage crisis. Out of the total 22.61 LMTs storage capacity in FCI godowns in Telangana, 21.72 LMTs are already occupied, leaving just 0.89 LMTs free, which is expected to be exhausted shortly. As of late September, 5.44 LMTs of CMR from Kharif 2024-25 and 14.92 LMTs from Rabi 2024-25 remained undelivered.
The shortage has forced millers to halt operations, while in several cases labourers have left rice mills due to lack of work, he said and urged the Centre to immediately arrange additional space by hiring godowns or by allotting more railway rakes to move rice stocks to other States.
In his second letter, the Minister sought enhancement of Telangana’s procurement target for KMS 2025-26. During the Food Secretaries’ meeting on September 1, 2025, the Government of India approved procurement of 36 LMTs of rice (equivalent to 53.73 LMTs of paddy) for the period 30 September 2025 to 15 June 2026. Telangana, however, has projected a bumper harvest of 148.30 LMTs of paddy, based on preliminary assessments of the Agriculture department.
Mr. Uttam Kumar Reddy said the current quota would fall significantly short, risking distress sales for lakhs of farmers. He proposed that the target be revised to 53.60 LMTs of rice (equivalent to 80 LMTs of paddy). He pointed out that with FCI releasing rice under the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) at ₹24 per kg, farmers are effectively realising only ₹16 to ₹17 per kg for paddy, discouraging private procurement and making them more dependent on Minimum Support Price operations through government purchase centres.
Published – September 30, 2025 08:29 pm IST
