Over 117 lakh tonnes paddy procured in Punjab

Chandigarh, Nov 2 (UNI) Government agencies and private millers have procured more than 117 lakh tonnes of paddy in Punjab till last evening.

According to an official spokesman, out of the total procurement of 117.46 lakh tonnes of paddy in all the procurement centres of the state, government agencies had procured 96.52 lakh tonnes of paddy, which was 82.2 per cent of the total procurement, till date whereas millers had lifted 20.94 lakh tonnes (17.8 percent) of paddy.

Among the state government agencies, Pungrain had procured 24.61 lakh tonnes (25.5 percent) whereas Markfed procured 22.78 lakh tonnes (23.6 percent). Punsup procured 24.44 lakh tonnes (25.3 percent), PSWC procured 12.88 lakh tonnes ( 13.3 percent) whereas PAIC was able to procure 10.53 lakh tonnes (10.9 percent) of paddy. The Central government agency FCI had been able to procure 1.24 lakh tonnes, which was just 1.3 per cent of the total procurement.

The spokesman said that Ludhiana district with 15.57 lakh tonnes of procurement was leading in procurement operations whereas Sangrur district with 14.43 lakh tonnes of procurement was at second slot and Patiala district with 12.33 lakh tonnes of procurement ranked at third position.

The farmers had been paid Rs 6401.61 crore for paddy procured by government agencies alone till October 31. Different government agencies had been allocated Rs 7220.29 crore to ensure smooth procurement, the spokesman added.

UNI