Hyderabad, Feb 12 (IANS) The government of Telangana has urged the Centre to procure additional 18 lakh tonnes of paddy from the state.

The request was made by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and Civil Supplies Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy during the meeting with Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Prahlad Joshi in New Delhi on Thursday.

The Chief Minister and Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy made several key requests concerning paddy procurement and pending dues.

The Union Minister was to direct the Food Corporation of India (FCI) to procure an additional 18 lakh tonnes of paddy collected by the State during the 2025–26 Kharif (Vanakalam) season.

The Chief Minister stated that while approval was granted for procurement of 53.73 lakh tonnes, the State procured an additional 18 lakh tonnes due to higher-than-expected production. The State requested that FCI procure this additional quantity with 10 percent broken rice tolerance.

For the 2024–25 Rabi (Yasangi) season, the Chief Minister requested permission for milling an additional 10 lakh tonnes of boiled rice with 5 per cent broken rice allowance. The Chief Minister also sought a two-month extension beyond February 28 for the submission of Custom Milled Rice (CMR) pertaining to the 2024–25 Kharif season.

The Chief Minister also requested the immediate release of pending dues amounting to Rs 1,468.94 crore owed to Telangana for rice supplied to FCI during the 2014–15 Kharif season. He informed the Union Minister that the State Government had borne the burden of additional levy procurement at that time by availing loans, and that the accumulated interest has now exceeded ₹2,000 crore.

Additionally, the Chief Minister sought the release of Rs 343.27 crore pending towards rice supplied under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKAY) from May 2021 to March 2022, and for supplies made in April 2022.

Members of Parliament Dr. Mallu Ravi and Suresh Shetkar, Additional Director of the State Civil Supplies Department Rohit Singh, and Coordinator for Central Government Schemes Dr. Gaurav Uppal were also present during the meeting.

–IANS

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