Over 98 lakh tonnes paddy procured in Punjab

Chandigarh, Oct 26 (UNI) Government agencies and private millers procured more than 98 lakh tonnes of paddy in Punjab till yesterday.

According to an official spokesman, out of the total procurement of 98.68 lakh tonnes of paddy in all the procurement centers of of the state, government agencies had procured 80.21 lakh tonnes of paddy, which was 81.3 per cent of the total procurement, till date whereas millers had lifted 18.46 lakh tonnes (18.7 per cent) of paddy.

Till October 25, Pungrain had procured 19.99 lakh tonnes (24.9 per cent) whereas Markfed procured 19.14 lakh tonnes (23.9 per cent). Punsup procured 20.39 lakh tonnes (25.4 per cent), PSWC procured 10.92 lakh tonnes (13.6 per cent) whereas PAIC was able to procure 8.78 lakh tonnes (11 per cent) of paddy. The Central government agency FCI had been able to procure 96,422 tonnes (1.2 per cent).

The spokesman said that Ludhiana district with 12.18 lakh tonnes of procurement was leading in procurement operations whereas Ferozepur District with 11.27 lakh tonnes of procurement was at second slot and Sangrur district with 10.41 lakh tonnes of procurement ranked at third position.

The spokesman added that the state government had already made payment to the tune of Rs 4,708.40 crore for paddy procured till October 24. Rs 5,885.26 crore payments had been allocated to all agencies to ensure timely payment to the farmers. The Government had already issued instructions to make payment to the farmers within 72 hours of lifting paddy.

The spokesman said that to ensure smooth procurement and timely payments to the farmers, the Punjab Government had already got a cash credit limit of Rs 7,439 crores sanctioned from Reserve Bank of India for Kharif Season 2007-08.

The State Government has set up 1,544 procurement centres and activated its total machinery to ensure smooth procurement of paddy, the spokesman added.

UNI