Chandigarh May 1 (IANS) Wheat procurement of nearly 195 lakh tonnes has been made in food grain states Punjab and Haryana this season food and supplies officials in both states said on Tuesday.
In Punjab the wheat procurement was nearly 116 lakh tonnes till April 30 (Monday) as compared to 110.24 tonnes procured in the same period last year. Over 115.23 lakh tonnes (99.6 percent) has been procured by government agencies.
In Haryana over 79 lakh tonnes of wheat has been procured so far this season. A Punjab government spokesman said that an amount of Rs 16 170.47 crore has been disbursed to the arthiyas (commission agents) and farmers which is 93 percent of the total due amount.
Despite reports of wheat not been lifted in grain markets the spokesman claimed that over 75.36 lakh tonnes has been lifted from the grain markets so far.
Government procurement agencies have procured over 79 lakh tonnes of wheat from farmers in Haryana an official spokesman said.
The procurement is higher than the corresponding period last year when state procurement agencies had procured 74.25 lakh tonnes wheat.
Procurement in both states started on April 1.
The Reserve Bank of India had earlier sanctioned the CCL (Cash Credit Limit) of Rs 17 994 crore for Punjab and nearly Rs 4 900 crore for Haryana for procurement of wheat this season.Both states had procured over 175 lakh tonnes of wheat last year.
--IANS
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