Telangana gears up for ₹18,250-crore Kharif paddy procurement

Telangana is set to launch a massive Kharif (Vanakalam) paddy procurement drive worth ₹18,250 crore, with plans to purchase 65 lakh tonnes of paddy from farmers. Irrigation and Civil Supplies Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy on Saturday directed officials to ensure seamless operations at all purchase centres, stressing that farmers should not face delays or payment issues.

A total of 8,283 Paddy Purchase Centres (PPCs) will be opened across the state, including 3,180 under IKP, 4,372 under PACS, and 731 others. All centres are to be operational by October 1, ahead of the expected arrival of produce from October 15.

The Minimum Support Price (MSP) has been fixed at ₹2,461 per quintal for Grade-A paddy and ₹2,441 for common varieties. In addition, the state government will provide a ₹500 per quintal bonus for seven preferred varieties: BPT-5204, RNR-15048, KNM-1638, Jaisriram, HMT-Sona, WGL-44, and KNM-7715.

Reddy explained that these varieties were chosen after studying domestic and international markets, as they are capable of fetching better prices. The aim is to ensure farmers receive remunerative returns either through government procurement or open market sales.

This Kharif season, the state expects paddy production of 119.57 lakh tonnes from 57.7 lakh acres. The government plans to procure 45 lakh tonnes of fine (sanna) varieties and 20 lakh tonnes of common (doddu) varieties.

The minister also flagged transportation concerns, urging officials to verify that contractors have adequate lorries to avoid bottlenecks in lifting paddy from purchase centres. On logistics, only 3.50 crore of the required 16.25 crore gunny bags are currently available, with the rest under procurement.

Senior officials, including Civil Supplies Commissioner M. Stephenson Ravindra, Director S. Shyam Prasad, and Additional Director Rohit Singh, attended the review meeting.