Telangana vigilance officials identified a shortfall of 8.73 lakh metric tonnes of government paddy worth an estimated ₹2,200 crore. The inquiry covered nearly 300 mills across 26 districts, and officials said ₹1,500 crore had been recovered from millers.
Telangana Paddy Scam Probe Widens
Telangana’s Vigilance and Enforcement Department is investigating the alleged diversion of 8.73 lakh metric tonnes of government-procured paddy valued at ₹2,200 crore. Inspections began in mid-July and expanded to nearly 300 rice mills across 26 districts. Officials said they had recovered ₹1,500 crore from millers against the stock shortfall. Authorities registered 63 FIRs and arrested 25 people, most of them rice millers.
The inquiry initially focused on discrepancies between stock records kept by millers and those maintained by the government. By August, officials had identified an estimated shortfall of 2.7 lakh metric tonnes worth ₹680 crore. The estimate rose after investigators widened their checks to include paddy earmarked for government auctions. Suryapet had the highest estimated value of missing stock at ₹430 crore, followed by Nizamabad at ₹245 crore and Nirmal at ₹230 crore.
Telangana Paddy Scam Probe Tracks Two Routes
Telangana buys paddy from farmers at the minimum support price and sends part of the stock to private mills under its Custom Milled Rice programme. The mills process the paddy and return the required quantity of rice to the Food Corporation of India or state warehouses. That rice helps supply the public distribution system. The government also auctions surplus paddy to clear stocks and recover procurement costs.
More than four lakh metric tonnes of the unaccounted-for paddy had been allocated for custom milling. The rest was earmarked for auctions. Vigilance officials suspect some millers sold government-controlled stocks on the open market. The two routes carry different obligations, so investigators have to check both whether mills returned the rice they owed and whether auction stocks were properly accounted for.
Telangana Paddy Scam Probe Flags Oversight Gaps
The inquiry has also raised questions about how the Civil Supplies Department tracked grain held by private mills. Vigilance officials flagged gaps in physical stock checks, incomplete stock records, storage problems and delays in recovering dues. They also identified instances in which paddy allocations allegedly exceeded requirements. Checking records against the grain physically held at each mill could have exposed shortages earlier.
In a separate October inquiry, Telangana’s Crime Investigation Department arrested 14 millers over allegations that fine Sanna Rakam paddy was diverted to the open market and cheaper coarse rice was supplied to the Food Corporation of India. The estimated ₹242 crore in potential bonus-related financial exposure belongs to that inquiry. The ₹2,200 crore estimate concerns the stock shortfall across the custom milling and auction channels.
