Hyderabad/New Delhi, March 4 (IANS) Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Tuesday met Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution Prahlad Joshi and urged him to release long-pending dues of Rs.1,981 crore to the state.
Accompanied by Civil Supplies Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, the Chief Minister met the Union Minister in the national capital and discussed several state-related issues.
They submitted a petition requesting the release of pending dues of Rs 1,468.94 crore towards the supply of rice to the Food Corporation of India (FCI) during the 2014-15 Kharif season.
They brought to the attention of the Union Minister that the pending dues were related to the additional levy collection which was borne by the state government.
The CM and the State Minister requested the Union Minister to release the arrears of Rs 343.27 crore for the supply of rice from May, 2021 to March, 2022 and in April, 2022 under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana.
The Chief Minister also appealed to the Union Minister to release pending dues of Rs 79.09 crore for rice distribution under the Non-NFSA (National Food Security Act) from June 2021 to April 2022 and extend the CMR (Custom Milling Rice) period by at least four months instead of one month to avoid hurdles in the supply.
Revanth Reddy requested Prahlad Joshi, who is also the Union Minister for Renewable Energy, to restore the 4,000 MW solar power generation permit granted to Telangana under the PM Kusum scheme earlier.
As the state government was already promoting women’s self-help groups to become entrepreneurs in solar power generation, the CM told the Union Minister that the Centre had previously granted a 4,000 MW permit to Telangana but later reduced it to 1,000 MW.
According to the Chief Minister’s Office, the Union Minister responded positively to the pleas made by CM Revanth Reddy and Civil Supplies Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy regarding the release of pending dues and sanction of 4,000 MW.
CMO Secretary Manikraj, State Civil Supplies Commissioner D.S. Chauhan, and Telangana Bhavan Resident Commissioner Gaurav Uppal were also present.
–IANS
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