Punjab has procured over 100 lakh tonne of paddy within one month of the start of the procurement process this kharif season, Food and Supplies officials said here on Thursday.
The 100 lakh tonne procurement mark was crossed on Thursday. The total procurement of paddy till Wednesday evening was over 99 lakh tonne.
Over 99 per cent of the paddy has been procured by government agencies while the remaining has been procured by private millers.
Payment of Rs 14,055.44 crore has been transferred to the accounts of 'arthiyas' (commission agents) and farmers by the government, a spokesman said.
The Punjab government has made arrangements for a bumper procurement of 200 lakh tonne of paddy this season.
In 2017-18, a total of 179.34 lakh tonne of paddy was procured.
Paddy procurement started in the agrarian state on October 1 but the bulk of the stocks started coming after October 10. The Central government had sanctioned a Cash Credit Limit (CCL) amount of Rs 29,695.40 crore for procurement of paddy in the kharif marketing season 2018-19. The Punjab government had demanded Rs 40,300 crore.
--IANS
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