Paddy procurement in Punjab crosses 90 lakh tonne mark

Chandigarh, Oct 24 (UNI) The procurement of Paddy in Punjab entered a crucial phase as total procurement by government agencies and private millers crossed 90 lakh tonne mark yesterday.

The farmers of the state had already been paid Rs 4189.81 crore for paddy procured by the government agencies till October 22, fulfilling the commitment of the Punjab government of making payment to them within 72 hours of lifting paddy.

According to an official spokesman, out of total procurement of 90.91 lakh tonne of paddy in the state, government agencies had procured 73.15 lakh tonne of paddy, which was 80.5 per cent of the total procurement, till date whereas millers had lifted 17.75 lakh tonnes (19.5%) of paddy.

Till October 23, Pungrain had procured 18.16 lakh tonnes (24.8 per cent) whereas Markfed procured 17.38 lakh tonnes (23.8 per cent). Punsup procured 18.69 lakh tonnes (25.6 per cnet), PSWC procured 9.99 lakh tonnes (13.7 per cent) whereas PAIC was able to procure 8.08 lakh tonnes (11.1 per cent) of paddy. The Central government agency FCI had been able to procure 82,842 tonnes (1.1).

The spokesman added that Ferozepur district with 11.16 lakh tonnes of procurement was leading in procurement operations whereas Ludhiana district with 10.93 lakh tonnes of procurement was at second slot and Patiala district with 9.23 lakh tonnes of procurement was at third position.

The spokesman said that Rs 5092.82 crore payments had been allocated to all agencies to ensure timely payment to the farmers.

He said that to ensure smooth procurement and timely payments to the farmers the state government had already got a cash credit limit of Rs 7439 crores sanctioned from Reserve Bank of India for the month of October.

The State Government has set up 1544 procurement centres and activated its total machinery to ensure smooth procurement of paddy, the spokesman added.

UNI