Telangana Govt puts Rs 150 crore on the historic Rabi Paddy Pardy Procuroment Drive: Uttam Kumar Reddy
Hyderabad: The Telangana government is preparing to spend more than Rs 1.5 crore to ensure a steady, timely rice procurement in the current Rabi season.
Irrigation and Civil Supplies Minister Captain N Uttam Kumar Reddy and Agriculture Minister Tummala Nageshwar Rao held a senior video conference with regional collectors on Wednesday, saying the Paddy procurement plan is the most sensitive and advanced action of the state government over the next 15 to 20 days.
With a record 5.489 billion acres of land and an estimated output of 127 million tons (LMTS), the government sets up Paddy to procure 70 LMT through a massive network of 8,381 procurement centers across the state.
The review meeting was chaired by the headquarters of the Civil Supply Department in Hyderabad, focusing on monitoring procurement progress, responding to on-site level challenges and ensuring a quick response to weather-related issues. The discussion was coordinated by the Chief Secretary and Civil Supply Commissioner DS Chauhan.
Minister Utam Kumar Reddy stressed that rapid, transparent and dignified procurement is crucial. “This is not only a procurement driver, but also a reflection of the government’s commitment to our farmers and our credibility. If any issues arise, please contact the Commissioner or me directly.”
He assured that more than Rs 150 crore fees have been specified to pay MSP payments and bonuses and provided a 48-hour payment window after uploading data in the procurement center. As of April 29, 23 LMT Paddy has arrived and 19.60 LMT has been purchased from about 2.55 million farmers. So far, Rs 228.981 crore have been paid, with the remaining Rs 45,457.2 crore being processed. A bonus of 44.42 crore was also prepared.
To prevent the government from issuing daily rainfall alerts at the PPC level due to weather reasons, distributing ORS pouches at the center and advising farmers to use available sheds during heat waves. The minister also directed the rapid evacuation of Paddy’s purchased to Mills to prevent backlogs, giving priority to the transfer of mills stored by Mills.
He directed collectors to coordinate with local SPs and RTOs to arrange transportation, manage labor locally, and ensure proper use of harvesting machinery to maintain quality. Gunny Bags (stocks of 13.71 million, with an additional $379 million along the way) is only issued after PPC’s moisture verification.
The minister praised the positive measures taken in certain regions, such as purchasing clothes dryers to improve the quality of the grains and urged wider adoption. He stressed that all procurement must strictly follow FAQ (fair average quality) norms to protect farmers and government interests.
The conference also covers the continuous distribution of fine rice for free through the public distribution system. Uttam Kumar Reddy urges strict adherence to cooking quality guidelines and requires collectors to speed up ration card verification to accelerate eligible beneficiaries without delay.
Currently, 1,579 rice plants are participating in the Custom Milling (CMR) program, and have allocated more than 45 LMT. Remaining inventory in high-yield zones is being redirected to nearby areas to optimize milling capabilities.
At the end of the meeting, one-on-one comments between the Civil Supplies Commissioner and the Collector ended. Minister Reddy reiterated that the goal is not only quantity, but also speed, transparency and dignity. “Let Telangana set a national benchmark in Paddy’s procurement,” he said.
