Rs 15,000 Crore Allocated For Paddy Procurement

The Telangana government was prepared to spend over Rs 15,000 crore to ensure the smooth and timely procurement of paddy during this Rabi season, in what would be one of the largest procurement operations in the country's history, said Civil Supplies Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy.

Reddy, along with Agriculture Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao, held a high-level video conference from Hyderabad with all the district Collectors today. On the occasion, he said that the paddy procurement program would be the most important and prestigious initiative of the government for the next 15 to 20 days.

With record Rabi cultivation spread across 54.89 lakh acres and an estimated output of 127 lakh metric tonnes (LMT), the State government plans to procure nearly 70 LMT of paddy through an extensive network of 8,381 procurement centres established across all districts.

The video conference, held from the Civil Supplies Department headquarters at Erramanzil Colony in Hyderabad, was hosted by Principal Secretary and Civil Supplies Commissioner D S Chauhan. It focused on reviewing the procurement progress, anticipating challenges, and ensuring rapid responses to unseasonal weather conditions and field-level logistical issues.

Addressing the Collectors, the agriculture minister said that the government was committed to ensuring smooth procurement, free from disruption or delay, and that the payments should be prompt, seamless and error-free.

He said that more than Rs 15,000 crore had been allocated for procurement, including Minimum Support Price (MSP) and bonus payments. "We must ensure that once procurement data from the Paddy Procurement Centres (PPCs) is uploaded, payments reach the farmers within 48 hours. I will speak to the Finance Department to ensure immediate release of the bonus amounts," he added.

On logistics, Reddy said that in locations where godowns were not accessible, paddy needed to be transported directly to mills with sufficient capacity. While intermediate godowns remained an option, he said priority needed to be given to timely lifting from PPCs to avoid backlogs or negative publicity. He directed the Civil Supplies Commissioner to make advance allocations of 10 LMT worth of storage space and intermediate godowns in districts where needed.

Transportation and labour concerns were also addressed. The minister asked Collectors to coordinate with Superintendents of Police and Regional Transport Officers to mobilise private lorries and ensure timely transportation of paddy from PPCs to mills. Labour shortages needed to be managed locally, and harvester spacing and technical settings needed to be monitored to maintain quality, he said.

Regarding gunny bags, the minister said that the government had already positioned 13.71 crore bags, and was mobilising another 3.79 crore. He instructed that gunny bags be issued only after verifying the moisture levels at the PPCs, and not handed over directly to the farmers in the field, to avoid artificial shortages.