Telangana Seeks Major Revision in Rice Procurement Target

Irrigation and Civil Supplies Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, leading a high-level delegation to New Delhi, met Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Pralhad Joshi, accompanied by Agriculture Minister Thummala Nageswara Rao, and pressed for immediate approval of several important demands regarding procurement and delivery of Specially Milled Rice (CMR).

The state has requested that the Rabi 2025-26 rice procurement target be increased to 54.50 LMT of rice from the current 35 lakh metric tonnes (LMT); This is equivalent to 80.09 LMT of paddy currently procured by the Government.

Telangana also sought permission to deliver the entire quantity in the form of boiled rice, citing that Rabi paddy grown in the state is mainly suitable for parboiled rice milling.

The demand comes at a time when Telangana is recording the highest paddy procurement in its history. During Rabi 2025-26 alone, supply has already reached 80.09 LMT and is expected to increase further with continued arrivals from late harvesting regions. The combined procurement during the Kharif and Rabi period of KMS 2025-26 reached a historic 152 LMT, the highest level ever recorded in Telangana and erstwhile united Andhra Pradesh.

Uttam Kumar Reddy informed the Union Minister that Telangana had initially envisaged purchasing around 90 LMT of paddy during the Rabi season based on production estimates.

However, the Center set the procurement target at only 35 LMT of rice; This means 51.47 LMT of paddy. The state has currently procured approximately 29 LMT more paddy than the amount covered by the approved target, leading to a mismatch between realities and official allocations.

The delegation argued that farmers should not be victimized due to low procurement targets set by the Centre. Despite severe operational challenges such as heatwave conditions, porter shortage, storage constraints, transportation bottlenecks, conflicting maize arrivals and unseasonal rains, the Government ensured uninterrupted supply at Minimum Support Price (MSP) and as per Fair Average Quality norms.

The ministerial delegation also requested an extension of the CMR delivery schedule. They have sought an extension of additional 60 days for completion of pending Rabi 2024-25 deliveries and additional 120 days for Kharif 2025-26 deliveries to facilitate uninterrupted milling and supply to the Central pool.

The province said storage shortages, overlapping purchasing seasons and busy shipping have slowed the passage of rice into the Food Corporation system.

Another important demand raised before the Union Minister was that future procurement targets, especially for Kharif 2026-27, should be aligned with the production and procurement estimates submitted by the State government. Telangana argued that unrealistic targets adversely affected procurement operations and created avoidable difficulties for farmers and the State administration.

The delegation highlighted the huge financial burden borne by Telangana due to procurement beyond the targets approved by the Centre. Official figures submitted to the Union Minister show that Telangana has purchased 69.50 LMT of paddy in the last three major purchasing seasons, above the quantities under Government of India targets. This has imposed an additional MSP-related financial burden on the State exchequer of approximately Rs 16.446 billion.

This burden was heavy during Rabi 2025-26, when Telangana purchased 80.09 LMT of paddy against the Centre’s target equivalent of 51.47 LMT; this resulted in over-purchase of 28.62 LMT and estimated additional financial liability of Rs 6,837 Million. Similar burdens of 5.278 billion rupees and 4.331 billion rupees occurred in Rabi 2024-25 and Kharif 2025-26, respectively.

Telangana’s remarkable growth in paddy production has been achieved thanks to expanded irrigation infrastructure, improved agricultural practices, assured energy supply and continuous support to farmers. However, procurement targets have not kept pace with the State’s agricultural transformation.

The panel of ministers urged the Central government to recognize the changing agricultural realities in the State and support its farmers by approving increased procurement target, allowing delivery of boiled rice and rationalizing future procurement norms.

They emphasized that Telangana’s procurement operations are aimed at ensuring that every grain produced by farmers is purchased at MSP and that the state should not be penalized for achieving record production.