Rice millers voice concerns over space crunch in FCI godowns

Members of the Haryana Pradesh Rice Millers and Dealers Association met Minister for Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Rajesh Nagar to discuss pressing issues related to custom-milled rice (CMR) for 2024-25. They emphasised the urgent need for additional storage facilities to ensure timely delivery of CMR to the Central pool, warning that delays could disrupt operations across the state.

The association pointed out that Haryana is responsible for delivering 37 lakh metric tonne of rice to the Central pool this year, but only 8 lakh metric tonne of storage space is currently available. “Storage facilities, including godowns managed by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and state agencies, are still filled with rice from the previous season,” said Amarjeet Chhabra, state president of the association.

“For the past four months, we have been urging the government to move rice from these godowns to consuming states so that we can get sufficient storage space. Due to this delay, the delivery of CMR is already running late,” Chhabra explained.

Millers also expressed concerns about the impact of delays on rice quality. “The extreme heat from May to July and lower moisture levels have resulted in lower yields and a higher percentage of broken rice. This has caused significant financial losses for millers. If storage space is made available on time, most CMR work can be completed as per schedule. If not, many millers may not be able to operate next year,” Chhabra warned.

The association further highlighted that this season’s CMR work began a month late, starting on December 16 instead of November 1. “We request the government to reschedule the CMR delivery time based on the availability of storage space,” Chhabra added.

Other demands included introducing bonuses for timely delivery of CMR and releasing the IIT Kharagpur committee’s report on paddy-to-rice yield ratios and broken content. “The committee has completed its review in Haryana and we request the release of the report,” said Chhabra.

Additionally, the association raised issues related to unloading, stacking and transportation charges for CMR.

Minister Rajesh Nagar acknowledged the concerns and assured the millers that their demands would be conveyed to the Central government for swift action.