Over 6 lk tonnes paddy procured by govt

Chandigarh, Oct 11: As much as 11.68 lakh metric tonnes of paddy has arrived in the 179 mandis of Haryana so far and out of this the six government procuring agencies had procured 6.70 lakh metric tonnes.

The millers had purchased 4.97 lakh MTs tonnes, Deputy Chief Minister Chander Mohan, who holds the Food and Supplies portfolio said here today.

He said that a sum of Rs 985 crore had been arranged as cash credit limit for the paddy season.

While enumerating the details of purchase of the paddy made by the six government agencies, he said that HAFED had procured 2.96 lakh tonnes, ood and Supplies Department had procured 2.15 lakh tonnes, Agro Industries Corporation 75,541 tonnes, Confed 60,294 tonnes and Haryana Warehousing Corporation 20,545 tonnes. Food Corporation of India had purchased 2,294 tonnes.

Kurukshetra district was leading with 3.49 lakh tonnes paddy having arrived in the mandis of the district. Karnal was close behind with 2.64 lakh tonnes followed by Fatehabad with 1.73 lakh tonnes.

Mr Chander Mohan said that the payment to the farmers was being made within 48 to 72 hours of the purchase. He said that a target of 20 lakh tonnes of paddy had been fixed by the state government for the current Kharif season.

UNI