In a bid to clear the mills and goddowns of the paddy stocks and make space for the fresh arrivals, the Congress Government in Telangana has initiated a fresh attempt to sale of about 35 lakh tonnes of paddy from the 2022-23 season.

The paddy, which will be sold on an as-is-where-is basis from over 1,830 mills in 28 districts, was bought by the Civil Supplies Corporation at the minimum support price.

After the two successive attempts by the erstwhile Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) failed to sell the stocks, the Revanth Reddy Government has initiated a fresh process, enhancing the quantity on sale by 10 lakh tonnes.

The mills in the State were brimming with rabi paddy stocks as the Centre refused to procure the summer rice as there were no takers. Telangana, the biggest producer of paddy in rabi, was left with huge stocks as there is no demand in the open market. States like Kerala and Tamil Nadu, which used to purchase parboiled rice (made of rabi paddy), stopped the purchases as they have started producing enough stocks required for the respective States.

“The Civil Supplies Corporation has divided the stocks into 12 lots, with 11 lots comprising 3 lakh tonnes each and one lot with 1.59 lakh tonnes,” a Government Order said.

“The evaluation and finalization of bids received shall be made on the basis of the highest price quoted by the bidders (H-1). The other technically qualified bidders willing to match the H-1 price will also be considered to purchase paddy,” it said.

Those who want to take part in the bidding will have to deposit an EMD (Earnest Money Deposit) of Rs 17.55 crore for each of the 3-lakh tonne lot.  To be eligible to submit the bids, the average annual turnover of the bidder should be at least Rs 200 crore in commodity trading in last three years.

The Corporation will conduct a pre-bid meeting on January 31. The last date for submitting the bids is February 7. The technical bids will be opened on February 8 and the financial bids the following day.

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