Despite cases, diversion of CMR paddy continues unabated in Telangana
As many as 89 rice mills in Telangana allegedly diverted 3.72 lakh metric tonnes of paddy worth Rs 927.16 crore under the Custom Milling Rice process. Officials have recovered over Rs 700 crore and registered 28 criminal cases against millers.
Mancherial: Despite cases, diversion of Custom Milling Rice (CMR) goes unabated in different parts of Telangana, causing huge revenue loss to the government.
Officials said that 89 rice mills diverted 3.72 lakh metric tonnes of paddy in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 Kharif seasons across Telangana. The value was calculated at Rs 927.16 crore. This wrongdoing was found during physical verification of stocks and records carried out by the Vigilance and Enforcement Department. The verifications commenced in July and were still being conducted across the State.
According to the officials, 14 millers failed to return 1.29 lakh metric tonnes worth Rs 318 crore in Suryapet district alone, while 38 millers defaulted on paddy in Peddapalli district. The value of the grains diverted in Peddapalli district was assessed at Rs 238 crore. Seven millers diverted grains to the tune of Rs 135 crore in Jagtial district.
Similarly, 80,000 metric tonnes of paddy allotted to millers for CMR was not returned to the government in Karimnagar district for two years. Four mills defaulted on 27,242 MTs of grains in Wanaparthy district, while eight mills were found to have diverted 14,136 MTs of paddy in Khammam district.
It was learnt that officials managed to recover over Rs 700 crore out of the total Rs 927.16 crore. They gathered undertakings from millers promising to pay 50 per cent of the cost of the defaulted grains in a week. They initiated 28 criminal cases against 50 millers for defaulting on the paddy. Twenty-six millers were already arrested.
Criminal cases were registered against seven mills for defaulting on the CMR in Peddapalli district. Two millers were arrested on charges of defaulting on grains worth Rs 24.18 crore in Sultanabad. Two millers, including former Khanapur MLA Rekha Naik, were booked for defaulting on the CMR in Nirmal district. Police invoked the Preventive Detention Act against a miller of Mancherial district recently.
Sources said that certain rice millers were selling the rice in the black market and were minting huge profits after being allotted the paddy under the CMR process. “The government hands over the grains to the mills for executing the process by paying the cost to farmers. However, the mills are not returning the rice, but are minting money by diverting the grains,” a source stated. The process has apparently become a boon to a section of mills.
Paddy diverted by mills: 3.72 lakh metric tonnes
Value of grains: 927.16 Cr
Mills diverted paddy: 89
Criminal cases booked against rice mills: 28
Millers involved in diversion of CMR: 50
Millers arrested for diversion of CMR: 26
Suryapet
Mills: 14
Paddy diverted: 1.29 lakh MTs
Value (Rs): 318 Cr
Nizamabad
Mills: 8
Paddy diverted: 52,418 MTs
Value (Rs): 155 Cr
Jagtial
Mills: 7
Paddy diverted: 56,319 MTs
Value (Rs): 135 Cr
Khammam
Mills: 8
Paddy diverted: 14,136 MTs
Value (Rs): 37 Cr
Wanaparthy
Mills: 4
Paddy diverted: 27,242 MTs
Value (Rs): 60 Cr
