Chennai: Tamil Nadu food and civil supplies department has decided to procure 25,000 tonnes of fine variety rice in the first phase and sell it through cooperative stores and state-run Amutham retail stores for ₹30 per kg.“Up to 5kg will be sold to each member of the public beginning this weekend,” said a statement from the department. The announcement comes in the wake of TVK govt facing criticism over price rise of essential commodities. DMK president M K Stalin said chief minister C Joseph Vijay should visit local grocery stores to understand the burden of the public. Civil supplies minister P Venkatramanan hit back, saying suspected hoarding by those affiliated to a certain party was one of the reasons for price rise.The statement said 500 tonnes of toor dal would be procured from National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) and sold for ₹130 per kg through Amutham stores. In addition, govt has taken steps to sell parboiled rice at ₹60 per kg, urad dal at ₹140, garlic for ₹240 and red chilli for ₹330. Govt would continue to sell onion at ₹35 per kg through ration shops.While civil supplies CID officials have been told to prevent hoarding and black marketing, district-level teams comprising district supplies officers, cooperative societies registrars and revenue inspectors would be formed to prevent hoarding, the statement added.Earlier in the day, Venkatramanan told reporters that rice mill owners affiliated with certain political parties were hoarding rice amid a shortage of fine varieties sourced from neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, pushing up prices.Stating that the price rise of rice was not a new phenomenon, the minister said that rice prices had gone up from ₹47 in 2021 to ₹53 in 2023, ₹60 in 2025 and ₹62 now. The price of tur dal increased from ₹111 in 2021 to ₹148 in 2023 and ₹171 in 2024.Venkatramanan said govt will procure one lakh tonnes of fine variety rice to be sold through Amudham outlets and cooperative stores in a phased manner. The quantity supplied will be increased based on demand, he said.
