The Chief Minister also requested the clearance of pending dues, enhancement of paddy procurement targets, and an increase in Telangana’s boiled rice quota
Hyderabad: Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Thursday urged Union consumer affairs and PDS minister Pralhad Joshi to consider implementing Telangana’s flagship fine rice (sanna biyyam) distribution scheme through ration shops across the country. He also requested the clearance of pending dues, enhancement of paddy procurement targets, and an increase in Telangana’s boiled rice quota. The Chief Minister during his meeting with the the Union minister here on Thursday, along with civil supplies minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy highlighted the successful implementation of the fine rice distribution scheme in Telangana and its positive impact on economically weaker sections.
Explaining the monitoring and delivery mechanism developed for the scheme, he stated that fine rice supply had helped curb recycling of PDS rice and stabilised rice prices in the open market. The programme, Revanth Reddy said, had achieved its primary objective of supplying nutritious, high-quality rice to the poor. Responding to the suggestion of nationwide adoption, the Union Minister said the Centre would take a decision after a detailed study.
The Chief Minister requested an additional 10 lakh metric tonnes of boiled rice quota for the 2024–25 Rabi season. He also drew attention to pending subsidy dues of `1,468 crore for levy rice supplied under PDS and `343.27 crore under the fifth phase of PMGKY, urging their immediate release. Revanth Reddy sought an extension of the custom milling rice (CMR) period for 2024–25, allocation of additional boiled rice wagons to ease storage pressure in FCI godowns, and support to enhance storage capacity in the state by 15 lakh metric tonnes.
Citing the record paddy production of 148 lakh metric tonnes in the 2025-26 Kharif season, the Chief Minister appealed for an increase in the central paddy procurement target to 80 lakh metric tonnes. The Union Minister assured that the Centre would consider all requests. He noted, however, that the demand for boiled rice had declined and suggested encouraging cultivation of raw rice varieties suitable for milling. He also advised exploring export opportunities to manage surplus stocks.
Uttam Kumar Reddy reiterated the request to increase the procurement target to 80 lakh metric tonnes and said that awareness programmes would be conducted to encourage farmers to grow varieties suitable for raw rice processing. The meeting was attended by Chief Secretary K. Ramakrishna Rao, principal secretary V. Seshadri, civil supplies commissioner Stephen Ravindra and senior officials.
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