42L metric tonne paddy bought this season by Telangana

HYDERABAD: In the current season, the Telangana civil supplies department purchased 42 lakh metric tonnes of paddy from farmers across the state as of Sunday. Minister for civil supplies, Gangula Kamalakar, reviewed paddy procurement status with officials on Monday.
Kamalakar said 42 lakh metric tonnes of paddy worth Rs 8,268 crore were purchased. Out of 4.5 lakh farmers listed on the Online Procurement Management System, approximately 3.75 lakh farmers received payments (OPMS).
He said that there will be no shortage of funds for paddy purchase in the state and that paddy will be lifted regardless of the state’s situation. The present procurement is 11 lakh metric tonnes higher than the previous year’s procurement at the same time.
According to the minister, current procurement has been completed in 1,280 centres across 13 districts. A total of 6,775 centres have been established around the state so far.
The minister went on to say that all of the Food Corporation of India (FCI) godowns were full and that the Centre’s wing is now refusing to lease godowns anymore, causing problems with crop storage. He also said that despite many complaints from the state government on the subject, there had been no response from the Centre or the FCI.
He added that there was an issue with paddy stocking because the (FCI) godowns in Suryapet, Siddipet, Sangareddy, Medak, Mahabubnagar, and Nirmal districts were not vacant.
The state administration anticipates that overall paddy production will be around 60 lakh metric tonnes this season. The minister also expressed anger that FCI was not sending racks in time, causing more delays in the procurement. Officials say that all the paddy of this season will be lifted.