Looks at avenues to liquidate annual rice surplus of 50-60 lakh tonnes.

By KV Kurmanath

After successfully piloting 12,500 tonnes of rice export to the Philippines last month, the Telangana Government now sees a bigger export opportunity. While expanding its export opportunity to the Philippines to 10 lakh tonnes, the State is exploring markets such as Indonesia and Africa.

The State is looking to ways to liquidate annual surplus rice stocks to the tune of 50-60 lakh tonnes.

“We signed a memorandum of understanding with the South-East Asian nation for the export of rice. Under this agreement, there is potential to export 10 lakh tonnes of coarse rice annually to the country,” Civil Supplies Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy said.

He said coarse varieties such as MTU-1010 and IR-64 that were grown in the State were in high demand in the Philippines.

2nd largest producer

Telangana, which emerged as a Top-3 rice-growing State, is looking at avenues to find avenues to monetise the surplus rice. According to the second advance estimates for 2024-25, Uttar Pradesh leads the chart with a production of 199 lakh tonnes (lt), followed by Telangana with 168 lt, Punjab 143 lt, West Bengal 121 lt, Madhya Pradesh 89 lt, Chhattisgarh 85 lakh tonnes and Andhra Pradesh with 80 lt.

Uttam Kumar Reddy said the State will be left with a whopping 50-60 lakh tonnes after setting apart enough stocks for local consumption and the public distribution system.

He said suitable incentives would be provided to farmers for growing export-quality paddy varieties, and policy incentives would be offered to exporters.

Industry welcomes initiative

The rice export industry welcomes the Telangana Government’s intent to tap premium markets such as the Philippines, which offer a price higher than the MSP price in India. India exports about 22 million tonnes, including 4 mt of basmati rice. India constitutes 50 per cent of global rice trade. 

B V Krishna Rao, President of All-India Rice Exporters’ Association, said tapping premium markets would help the country realise a better price as against the African markets which offer a below-MSP price.

Though Telangana grows paddy on 25 lakh hectares lesser than the rice-growing areas of a few top States, it emerges as the second player because it grows paddy in the rabi season too, thanks to additional irrigation facilities it accrued after the construction of the Kaleshwaram project.

“Rice prices declined by ₹100-200 per quintal in key markets due to weak demand.

The domestic market remains uncertain, with traders holding ample stocks of both old and new rice, but experiencing slow liquidation and limited buying activity,” a State Government official said.

Though the State is able to liquidate the overflowing stocks thanks to the increase demand due to the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, the State is looking at a long-term solution by creating dependable export markets.

More enquiries

The Civil Supplies Ministry, along with other stakeholders, recently held a brainstorming session to prepare a Rice Export Policy.

“After the pilot consignments reached the Philippines, we have started getting enquiries from other countries. We are considering them,” a source in the Government told businessline.

Reddy said the Congress Government’s decision to provide a bonus of Rs 500 a quintal for farmers for growing fine varieties encouraged the farmers to increase the acreage under this premium variety.

Aldas Janaiah, Vice-Chancellor of Prof. Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University, said the Philippines was a suitable market for Telangana rice as it depended on imports to meet the local demand. 

Published Date: April 17, 2025