With paddy stocks overflowing in the last few years and existing mills struggling to process them, Telangana has decided to set up more rice mills by investing ₹2,000 crore.

Insufficient milling capacity has led to huge backlogs in supplying Custom Milled Rice (CMR) to the Central Pool, creating friction between the Centre and the State every season.

As the State keeps on asking for extension to clear the backlogs, the Centre recently asked the State government to increase the milling capacities. It refused to accept about two lakh tonnes (lt) of rice from the State due to the inordinate delays in handing over the contracted rice.

The existing milling capacity in the State can handle about 75 lakh tonnes (lt) of paddy this year. This is less than one-fourth of the State’s production of 30 million tonnes. Therefore, to ease the pressure on the existing mill network, Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has decided to set up rice mills across the State at an investment of ₹2,000 crore.

Rice bran oil processing mills too will be set up and integrated with the rice mills. He has asked the officials to map the processing requirements in different districts and prepare plans accordingly.

The Civil Supplies Department will take care of the establishment and management of the new rice mills. The department would get more manpower to take care of the additional responsibilities.

Incidentally, a delegation from Japan’s leading milling firm Satake Corporation was in the city on Monday to hold discussions with the government. “We are going to set up rice mills equipped with modern technological tools, with a capacity of 60 to 120 tonnes an hour in each district,” the Chief Minister said.

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Published on June 20, 2023