Government agencies procure over 101 lakh tonnes paddy

Chandigarh, Nov 8 (UNI) Paddy procurement by government agencies in Punjab exceeded 101 lakh tonnes mark yesterday as total procurement by them and private millers exceeded 123 lakh tonnes mark.

According to an official spokesman, out of the total procurement of 123.27 lakh tonnes of Paddy in all the procurement centres of the state, government agencies had procured 101.08 lakh tonnes of paddy, which was 82 per cent of the total procurement, whereas millers had lifted 22.19 lakh tonnes (18%) of paddy.

Among the state government agencies Pungrain had procured 25.90 lakh tonnes (25.6 per cent) whereas Markfed procured 23.85 lakh tonnes (23.6 per cent). Punsup procured 25.63 lakh tonnes (25.4 per cent), PSWC procured 13.36 lakh tonnes (13.2 per cent) whereas PAIC procured 11.02 lakh tonnes (10.9 per cent) of paddy. The Central government agency FCI procured 1.30 lakh tonnes (1.3 per cent).

The spokesman said that Ludhiana district with 16.34 lakh tonnes of procurement was leading in procurement operations whereas Sangrur district with 15.53 lakh tonnes of procurement was at second slot and Patiala district with 12.83 lakh tonnes of procurement ranked at third position.

The spokesman added that the Punjab Government had already made payment to the tune of Rs 7096.75 crore for paddy procured till November six. Rs 7694.67 crore payments had been allocated to all agencies to ensure timely payment to the farmers. The state 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 9058.50 crore sanctioned from Reserve Bank of India for Kharif Season 2007-08.

UNI