Nirmal’s Rs 700 crore miller mystery needs paperwork
A report puts the alleged CMR default in Nirmal at Rs 700 crore. Earlier records and another report place that figure statewide, leaving the headline number waiting for an audit trail.
The reported Nirmal figure remains subject to an audit trail and supporting records.
Agriculture | Analysis
A reported Rs 700-crore custom-milled rice (CMR) default in Nirmal needs one small thing before it becomes fact: the records.
A report dated August 28, 2026, said nearly 50 of the district’s 76 rice mills had allegedly failed to return CMR linked to the 2023 and 2024 seasons. It also reported six arrests and suspected diversion to Maharashtra. The report did not publish the audit, FIR numbers, arrest records or a mill-wise statement.
That matters because separate reporting on August 20 described more than Rs 700 crore as recovered across Telangana, from diversion assessed at Rs 927.16 crore. Earlier Nirmal reporting recorded 17 alleged defaulters and seven cases involving Rs 107 crore in December 2024, followed by an alleged Rs 150-crore diversion probe in April 2025. The published material does not explain whether these are different seasons, expanded figures or different accounting bases. The arithmetic, for once, is asking questions before the politicians do.
The Nirmal Civil Supplies department’s official page lists diversion enforcement as part of its mandate, but does not publish the alleged Rs 700-crore assessment, accused-miller list, FIRs or recoveries. The Congress government in Telangana has yet to put those records in public view. Until it does, Rs 700 crore is a reported claim—not an established district total.