Punjab finally gets CCL for paddy procurement, RBI sanctions Rs 30,220 cr

Amarinder Singh asked the food and civil supplies ministry to ensure prompt lifting of the produce and release of payment to farmers within the stipulated timeframe of 72 hours for the procurement to be undertaken now.

The Reserve Bank of India Wednesday sanctioned a cash credit limit (CCL) amount of Rs 30,220.82 crore to Punjab for procurement of paddy in the kharif marketing season 2020-21, for October, more than 10 days after the state started the procurement operations.

Chief Minister Amarinder Singh directed all procurement agencies to pay pending payments of farmers against already procured grain within 24 hours.

The state was waiting for the CCL even as the procurement season was officially started by Centre on September 26.

An official statement said the total expected amount of CCL required for the entire paddy procurement season is Rs 35,552 crore, of which Rs 30,220.82 crore has been released. The balance amount would be released as per the standard practice of revising the amount at the end of this month while sanctioning the CCL for November.

Amarinder asked the food and civil supplies ministry to ensure prompt lifting of the produce and release of payment to farmers within the stipulated timeframe of 72 hours for the procurement to be undertaken now.

The CM also expressed satisfaction with the 15.6 lakh tonnes of paddy procured by various agencies till date. With 27.36 lakh hectares of area under paddy cultivation, Punjab is targeting a procurement of 171 lakh tonnes in the ongoing season which began on September 27, as per the statement. The Punjab Mandi Board has already notified nearly 4,000 purchase centres for seamless procurement of paddy.

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