Telangana govt open to milling from other states

Hyderabad: The state government is faced with a challenging task to procure paddy in the ongoing kharif season as paddy was sown in over 65 lakh acres, the highest ever so far. A record production of 1.70 crore tonnes is expected.

Civil supplies minister Gangula Kamalakar on Monday held a meeting with department officials to devise a Kharif action plan for paddy procurement. They will explore possibilities of utilising services of millers from neighbouring states for milling PDS rice. This could be handed over to FCI on the grounds that the millers in Telangana had failed to deliver PDS rice stocks in time.

However, the minister stated that he would take up the issue with Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, who will take the final call. He fumed at the inordinate delay by millers from the state in handing over PDS rice stocks to FCI, which has resulted in severe losses to the state government.

The minister warned of stopping milling in Telangana if they fail to clear the stocks lying with them. He asked officials to identify 'intermediate points' for storing paddy and rice stocks in other states, if the Chief Minister decides to handover paddy stocks to other states.