Centre aims 7-fold jump in wheat procurement from UP, Rajasthan, Bihar this year
Rajasthan, and Bihar and set a target of seven-fold jump in procurement to 50 lakh tonnes in the ongoing 2024-25 marketing year. Further, even as the ban on outbound shipments of wheat continues, «it will be a dream for us to export now», Food Secretary Sanjeev Chopra told reporters on Thursday.
"UP, Bihar, and Rajasthan have been contributing much less than they could have. We are targeting total wheat procurement of 310 lakh tonne this year. Of which, we are hoping to procure at least 50 lakh tonne from three non-traditional procurement states alone," he said.
While Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Bihar put together contributed only 6.7 lakh tonnes to the central pool during the 2023-24 marketing year (April-March), the Union Food Ministry has decided to procure 16 per cent of the total wheat procurement target of 310 lakh tonne set for 2024-25.
Wheat procurement at minimum support price (MSP) is normally undertaken by the Centre's nodal agency Food Corporation of India (FCI) and state agencies. However, cooperatives Nafed and NCCF have also been roped in with a procurement target of 5 lakh each this year.
Wheat MSP has been fixed at Rs 2,275 per quintal for the current year.
Since October, the Centre has been working with these three states to increase the procurement level. Various steps have been taken to address the gaps and it should help boost procurement levels in three states, he said.
Asserting that 2024 general elections is unlikely to affect wheat procurement operations, the Secretary said the
