Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], March 28 (ANI): Odisha will have about 20 lakh metric tonnes of surplus rice after meeting all its requirements, state chief minister Naveen Patnaik said in a letter to the central government asking for the evacuation of surplus rice from the state.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik writes to Union Minister, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Piyush Goyal for evacuation of surplus rice from Odisha.

In his letter to Union Minister Piyush Goyal, Patnaik said about 65.23 LMT of paddy equivalent to 44.23 LMT Kharif CMR has been procured as of March 22 and MSP dues of about Rs 13,081 crore have been transferred to the bank account of the farmers within 24 to 48 hours of the purchase of paddy.

"In the ensuing Rabi (KMS 2022-23), it is expected that about 10 lakh MT of CMR will be procured in the state, thus, a total of 54 lakh MT CMR is likely to be procured during KMS 2022-23," he added.

He further said that Odisha's own consumption will be 24 lakh MT of rice under NFSA, SFSS and Other Welfare Schemes.

"The Department of Food and Public Distribution, Government of India has issued a target of 10.33 LMT (4 LMT in 1 st phase and 6.33 in 2nd phase) of fortified parboiled rice for acceptance by FCI during KMS 2022-23 (Kharif) for the state of Odisha. So, the State will be left with approximately 20 lakh MT of surplus rice," Odisha CM told the Centre.

Patnaik further stated that non-evacuation surplus rice from the state will severely affect the paddy procurement operations in the coming seasons as well as it will adversely impact the livelihood of lakhs of farmers of the state whose main source of earning is through MSP operations of paddy procurement. (ANI)