Ludhiana (Punjab) ‘lags’ in wheat lifting; active steps being taken: Officials

About 35.5% wheat has so far been lifted from the grains markets of the district. As per the official data, around 3.02 MT wheat has arrived at the mandis, out of which 2.49 lakh MT has been purchased and 88,693 MT lifted. Officials have been citing the late and sudden arrival of wheat at the grain market as the reason behind “slow” lifting. The data was last updated on Tuesday.

District food and supply controller (East) Shefali Chopra said around 1.71 lakh MT wheat has arrived in the grain markets of Ludhiana East, of which 1.45 lakh MT has been purchased and 55,414 MT lifted.

Similarly, district food and supply controller (West) Sanjay Sharma said out of 1.31 lakh MT wheat arrived, 1.03 lakh MT has been purchased and 33,249 MT lifted. Both these officers claimed that the lifting was not slow.

Meanwhile, Markfed managing director Girish Dayalan and DC Sakshi Sawhney on Wednesday took stock of wheat procurement in Raqba, Hathur and Kamalpura grain markets. They said that payments worth Rs 467.6 crore had been made to farmers in Ludhiana.

Sawhney said, “The lifting becomes due after 72 hours of procurement. Therefore, the situation is good as 167% wheat was lifted within 72 hours. Arrival is now picking up pace and we are proactively trying to lift within 24 hours of procurement so that there is no glut-like situation.”

This article has been republished from The Times of India.