Govt buys record 11L tonnes of wheat in Punjab in single day

By Dipak K Dash

Logging a single-day procurement record, govt agencies on Wednesday bought 11 lakh tonnes of wheat only in Punjab. So far, wheat procurement across states has been around 170 lakh tonnes and is set to touch peak by this month-end.

Officials said after a delayed arrival, the quantity of wheat reaching mandis in Punjab saw a surge in the last one week. Around 68 lakh tonnes of wheat has been purchased by agencies in the state so far for the central pool, which is managed by FCI.

Sources said they are witnessing a surge in arrivals as harvesting of crops was delayed by a fortnight because of the climate in March. Other major contributors to the central pool procurement so far, include Haryana (51 lakh) and Madhya Pradesh (31 lakh).

Govt has set the target to purchase 300 lakh tonnes of wheat this season against 261 lakh tonne procured last year.

This article has been republished from The Times of India.