Telangana govt appoints five-member officials committee to formulate new milling policy

The five-member committee comprised of state chief secretary, Special Secretary to the Industries and Commerce department, Secretary of the Chief Minister's Office, TSIIC Managing Director, and the Commissioner of Civil Supplies.

Hyderabad: In accordance with the recent Cabinet decision, the State government on Thursday appointed an officials committee to make recommendations for enhancing the milling capacity and auctioning of excess paddy in the State. The five-member committee, chaired by Chief Secretary A Shanti Kumari has been tasked with suggesting measures to augment milling capabilities.

Other members of the committee are the Special Secretary to the Industries and Commerce department, Secretary of the Chief Minister’s Office, TSIIC Managing Director, and the Commissioner of Civil Supplies.

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The committee has been charged with devising strategies to efficiently utilise the surplus paddy yield in the State, while recommending an updated milling policy and fostering growth in the food processing sector. Key areas of focus include identifying low milling areas, assessing paddy production, procurement, and milling capacity.

Further, the committee aims to formulate an industrial incentive policy to attract investments in paddy milling, explore potential lands for Food Processing Zones, and identify advanced technology for the establishment of new mills within a year. It will also re-evaluate the present custom milling policy, potentially moving towards a mandatory milling system with fixed capacity. It will also prepare guidelines for milling, assess paddy quality according to market conditions, and finalize paddy prices and auctioning procedures.

The aim is to ensure that rice and its by-products yield profitable returns. The paddy price will be fixed by evolving a consensus among all stakeholders and recommending guidelines for paddy auction. The Commissioner of Civil Supplies Department will take further action in this regard.