Telangana Seeks Major Revision in Rice Procurement Target Following Record Production
Telangana has requested the central government to significantly increase its rice procurement target, citing record production levels. The state warns that current limits have created a massive financial burden, forcing the government to fund excess procurement beyond allocated central targets to protect farmers.
Highlights
- •Telangana seeks to raise its Rabi 2025-26 rice procurement target from 35 LMT to 54.50 LMT.
- •The state has already procured 80.09 LMT of paddy, exceeding the current central allocation.
- •Excess procurement has placed a financial burden of Rs 16,446 crore on the state treasury.
- •Officials requested extensions for Custom Milled Rice (CMR) deliveries to address storage and logistical challenges.
The Telangana government has formally requested the central authorities to enact a substantial upward revision of its rice procurement target for the 2025-26 Rabi season. State officials emphasize that current official allocations fail to account for the region's record-breaking agricultural productivity, placing a significant financial strain on the local administration as it strives to uphold support for farmers.
Addressing the Rice Procurement Target Mismatch
A senior delegation, headed by the Minister for Irrigation and Civil Supplies, N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, and the Minister for Agriculture, Thummala Nageswara Rao, traveled to New Delhi to present these concerns to the Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Pralhad Joshi. The state has urged the central government to increase the procurement target from the current 35 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of rice to 54.50 LMT. This adjustment is necessary to match the 80.09 LMT of paddy that the state has already secured from local farmers.
The delegation highlighted that Telangana has achieved its highest-ever paddy procurement levels during the 2025-26 season. Combined figures for both the Kharif and Rabi cycles have reached a historic 152 LMT. Despite these achievements, the rice procurement target fixed by the Centre at 35 LMT of rice—equivalent to 51.47 LMT of paddy—falls significantly short of ground-level production. This discrepancy has forced the state government to shoulder the burden of purchasing nearly 29 LMT of excess paddy to ensure that local growers receive the designated Minimum Support Price (MSP).
Financial Impact and Future Adjustments
The state government has reported that purchasing paddy beyond the central targets has imposed an additional financial liability of approximately Rs 16,446 crore on the state exchequer over the last three procurement seasons. Specifically, for the Rabi 2025-26 season alone, the surplus procurement resulted in an extra expenditure of roughly Rs 6,837 crore. Officials argue that such financial burdens are unsustainable and stem from unrealistic target-setting that does not reflect actual agricultural output.
Beyond the target revision, the ministers requested permission to deliver the entirety of the procurement in the form of boiled rice, noting its suitability for the state's Rabi harvest. They also sought extensions for the Custom Milled Rice (CMR) delivery schedules, asking for 60 additional days for the Rabi 2024-25 season and 120 days for the Kharif 2025-26 cycle. By aligning future rice procurement target figures with realistic production data, the state government aims to streamline logistics and mitigate further economic hardship for both the administration and the farming community.
