Millers left in lurch as FCI refuses to buy rice

Khammam: The refusal of the Food Corporation of India to buy 30,000 tonnes of discoloured custom milled rice (CMR) from 63 rice mills of Khammam has left mill owners facing a bleak future.

The development comes after months of a tussle between the state and Centre over the procurement of 1.52 lakh tonnes of CMR. Following discussions, the FCI bought 1 lakh tonnes in December 2021. After another round of back and forth, the Centre agreed to buy 52,000 tonnes, but the FCI refused to buy around 30,000 tonnes of it claiming that the rice colour changed to “light yellowish”.

Even as the FCI cited guidelines not allowing for procurement of “light yellowish rice”, district civil supplies officer Somulu said that efforts are underway to shift the rice to FCI.

Bomma Rajeswara Rao, the Telangana Rice Millers Association’s district president, said, “It is a life and death problem to the rice millers and we had never experienced such a problem. We have to face Rs 36-crore loss due to the scuffle between the state and Central governments. We approached the collector on the issue, but we did not get relief on it. The state government escaped saying it had no role over the quality of rice”. 

Millers said that refusal of the FCI will force them to sell the rice to beer companies, which will pay them Rs 1,800 per quintal, as opposed to Rs 3,000 per quintal by the FCI.

J. Nagesh, district general secretary of Telangana Rice Millers Association, said, “Ninety per cent of the rice millers will have to move away from the business and leave the mills if they sell the rice to the beer companies. We are not at fault here; we made the CMR ready by December, but the FCI is only picking it up now”.

B. Madhu, the district secretary of the association, said, “We will fight it in Delhi to exert pressure on the Central government. We have no other option”.