Odisha doubles rice milling charges, to encourage paddy procurement

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has doubled the rice milling charge in order to smoothen the paddy procurement from farmers and support the millers, an official said.

The proposal in this regard was approved by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Friday. The milling charge for parboiled (Ushuna) rice has been enhanced from Rs 20 to Rs 40 per quintal, while the charge for raw (Arua) rice is raised from Rs 10 to Rs 20 per quintal, a release issued by the CMO said.

The officials said that the two-fold rice in milling charge is expected to encourage the millers, which will ultimately strengthen the state's paddy processing ecosystem. The millers were making such demands since a long time in view of increased labour wages, fuel price and cost of other milling inputs.


The officials said that the move will benefit the broader agricultural value chain by ensuring smoother handling of paddy and rice stocks. The enhanced milling charge will be implemented with immediate effect as the paddy procurement season continued across the state.