After meeting NFSA and SFSS needs and supplying CMR to FCI, the state had a surplus of 12 lakh tonne of rice and urged the Centre to lift it to safeguard farmers’ interests.

Bijoy Pradhan

BHUBANESWAR: The woes of the state government over disposal of surplus rice have finally been laid to rest with the Centre further revising the paddy procurement estimate (in term of rice) for kharif marketing season 2024-25 from 58 lakh tonne to 62 lakh tonne.

In a recent communication to the Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare department, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution has conveyed its approval for further lifting additional 4 lakh tonne of custom milled rice (CMR) from the state to central pool.

Earlier on October 15, the ministry had revised the paddy procurement estimate by 8 lakh tonne in shape of rice.

The original estimate for Odisha for KMS 2024-25 was 50 lakh tonne of rice as against the availability of 62.82 lakh tonne with the state government after a record procurement of 92.64 lakh tonne of paddy under decentralised paddy procurement system.

Having a surplus of 12 lakh tonne after meeting the food needs of the people covered under National Food Security Act (NFSA) and State Food Security Scheme (SFSS) and delivery of CMR to the Food Corporation of India (FCI), the state government had requested the Centre to lift the surplus rice for the greater interest of the farmers.

After repeated requests, the Food ministry revised the kharif CMR estimate from 40 lakh tonne to 47 lakh tonne and rabi CMR estimate from 10 lakh tonne to 11 lakh tonne. With the approval of lifting an additional 4 lakh tonne, the state will be left with 82,000 tonne of rice.

The state government has already taken care of the 82,000 tonne of CMR by distributing it among all the PDS beneficiaries with additional monthly quota of five kg.

As per the status report on CMR delivery as on December 20, the registered rice millers have supplied 29.31 lakh tonne to the state government for PDS distribution and 22.66 lakh tonne to FCI, taking the total delivery to 51.98 lakh tonne. The balance delivery from the millers stands at 11.29 lakh tonne.

Meanwhile, FCI has increased the pace of evacuation of rice from Odisha by transporting nearly 2 lakh tonne of the stock in the last two weeks. Welcoming the decision of the central government, the All Odisha Rice Millers’ Association said the space constraints they were facing will be over soon.

Published Date: December 23, 2025