In Hyderabad, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy held discussions with Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Monday, focusing on crucial issues concerning LPG subsidies and rice procurement arrears.
Revanth Reddy emphasized the Telangana government's commitment to provide LPG cylinders at a subsidized rate of Rs 500 under its Mahalakshmi scheme. He requested Puri to facilitate the advance payment of LPG cylinder subsidies directly to Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs). The Chief Minister expressed concerns that despite the state's readiness to pay the subsidies upfront, OMCs have not responded positively. In the absence of this option, Revanth Reddy urged Puri to ensure that consumers receive the subsidies from the Telangana government within 48 hours of purchase.
Additionally, Revanth Reddy met with Union Food and Public Distribution Minister Prahlad Joshi to address pending issues related to rice procurement and distribution. He urged Joshi to release the pending subsidy amount of Rs 1,468.94 crore pertaining to the collection of additional levy during the 2014-15 kharif period. The Chief Minister also highlighted the need for the immediate release of Rs 343.27 crore for 89,987.730 metric tonnes of rice supplied between May 2021 and March 2022 under the Prime Minister’s Garib Kalyan Yojana. Furthermore, he pressed for the release of Rs 79.09 crore in arrears related to rice distributed under Non-NFSA from the same period.
The discussions were attended by Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, Irrigation Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy, Congress MPs Ramasahayam Raghurami Reddy and M Anil Kumar Yadav, Secretary to the CM Chandrasekhar Reddy, and Telangana Bhavan resident commissioner Gaurav Uppal, indicating a concerted effort to address these critical financial matters affecting the state.