Metro India News | Hyderabad 

Telangana is preparing for a large-scale paddy procurement drive, with Civil Supplies Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy directing district collectors and civil supplies officials to ensure proper coordination and timely execution.

The Minister, along with Agriculture Minister Tummala Nageshwar Rao and Chief Secretary S. Ramakrishna Rao, held a video conference on Wednesday to review Kharif procurement arrangements. Senior officials, including Civil Supplies Commissioner Stephen Ravindra and Agriculture Secretary Surendra Mohan, participated in the meeting.

Uttam Kumar Reddy said the government plans to procure 80 lakh metric tonnes of paddy — equally divided between fine and coarse varieties — cultivated over 66.8 lakh acres. The procurement value is estimated at around Rs 22,000–23,000 crore.

He instructed district collectors to treat the operation as a priority and ensure that farmers do not face inconvenience. “No farmer should be made to wait for long hours at procurement centres. Facilities like water, shelter, and sanitation must be ensured,” he said.

A total of 8,342 paddy procurement centres (PPCs) have been approved across Telangana — 4,259 under PACS, 3,517 through IKP groups, and 566 by other agencies. Around 1,205 centres have already started operations in key paddy-growing districts, including Kamareddy, Nizamabad, Medak, Siddipet, and Nalgonda.

The minister directed officials to fill infrastructure gaps immediately and authorised additional spending where required. He also instructed that data entry of procured stocks be done promptly so that payments to farmers, including MSP and bonus, are released within 48 hours.