Uttam Kumar Urges Centre To Release Rs 1,811 Cr
“There is an imperative need for enhancement of target to protect farmers from distress sale, it is therefore requested that the paddy procurement target be enhanced to 80 LMT (54 LMT of rice) for Kharif 2025-26”: Uttam Kumar Reddy
HYDERABAD: Civil supplies minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Sunday requested the Centre for the release of ₹1,468 crore, the pending subsidy for excess mill levy rice (KMS 2014-15), besides the release of subsidy for 89,988 MT of rice distributed under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) (April 2022) amounting to ₹343.27 crore.
In his letter addressed to Union consumer affairs minister Pralhad Joshi, Uttam Kumar said that a subsidy claim of ₹1,468 crore towards excess mill levy rice procured during KMS 2014-15 (Kharif) is pending release.
“Despite repeated efforts by the state government, the department of food and public distribution has conveyed its decision not to release the subsidy amount of ₹1,468.95 crore for 6.88 lakh MT of levy rice procured during KMS 2014-15 and distributed under DCP (decentralised procurement scheme).
Your kind intervention is sought to ensure the release of the pending levy subsidy. Further, the subsidy of ₹343.27 crore 89,988 MTs of rice distributed by the state government under PMGKAY during April 2022 instead of March 2022 remains unreleased,” he pointed out.
He highlighted the operational and financial issues regarding procurement activities for the ongoing Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2025-26. Uttam Kumar Reddy urged the Union government to allot additional rakes to facilitate expeditious movement of parboiled rice from FCI godowns in Telangana.
He cited that there was a shortfall of 13.5 LMTs in rake movement during the current year as compared to the previous year, resulting in an ‘accumulation of stocks’, particularly parboiled rice in FCI godowns.
Urging for the enhancement of Storage Capacity in Telangana, the minister stated that the present storage capacity available with SWC (State Warehousing Corporation (SWC) / CWC (Central Warehousing Corporation) in Telangana, with 65 LMTs was not supporting the exponential increase in paddy production in the state year after year.
“There is no commensurate increase in storage capacity, which is causing a major hurdle in the completion of CMR (Custom Milled Rice) deliveries in time. To tide over this situation, it is requested to enhance storage capacity by an additional 15 LMTs under the storage schemes of the Union government and to enable the construction of godowns and silos in the state to facilitate timely CMR delivery and smooth MSP operations,” he urged.
Further, the minister brought to the notice of Pralhad Joshi to enhance the paddy procurement target for Kharif 2025-26. As of date, the state government has already procured 52 LMTs of Paddy and the Union government’s target will be reached in a couple of days.
“There is an imperative need for enhancement of target to protect farmers from distress sale, it is therefore requested that the paddy procurement target be enhanced to 80 LMT (54 LMT of rice) for Kharif 2025-26,” he noted.
