Bansal further said OSCSC, the paddy procurement agency for the state, has not paid the custody and maintenance charges to the millers for KMS 2023-24 and 24-25.

Express News Service

BHUBANESWAR: Members of the All Odisha Rice Millers’ Association (AORMA) have decided to convene a meeting in Bargarh on October 26 to discuss various issues relating to custom milling of paddy and delivery of custom milled rice (CMR).

President of the association, Mahesh Bansal said though some long-standing issues of the state’s rice millers are pending for disposal, repeated reminders to the state government have not yielded any results.

“The millers are facing storage space constraints due to slow and minimal rice receipt by the FCI. The central agency has lifted only 66 pc of the total estimate of 63.5 lakh tonne of CMR of 2024-25 kharif marketing season. Prolonged storage of paddy in the millers’ godowns affects the quality of rice for which the millers are held responsible,” he added.

Bansal further said OSCSC, the paddy procurement agency for the state, has not paid the custody and maintenance charges to the millers for KMS 2023-24 and 24-25. The millers have decided not to keep the corporation stock at their mills with payment of charges. “In the beginning of KMS 2024-25, the state government had promised for upward revision of milling charges before the commencement of rabi paddy procurement but it is still awaited. This delay in payment of enhanced rates will definitely affect upcoming paddy procurement,” he cited.

The other issues include revision in transportation charges on paddy and rice. Keeping in view the upcoming paddy procurement season, the millers will take a firm decision on the pending issues during the meeting in Bargarh, Bansal said.

Published Date: October 23, 2025