The Punjab government on Tuesday said it has urged the Centre to increase the monthly lifting of wheat and paddy to at least 12 lakh metric tonne (LMT) to create adequate storage space ahead of the upcoming procurement seasons.
The demand was discussed during a meeting of a Group of Ministers (GoM), comprising Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khuddian, Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister Lal Chand Kataruchak and Water Resources Minister Barinder Kumar Goyal.
According to an official statement, the ministers reviewed preparations for the paddy procurement season 2026-27 and the wheat procurement season 2027-28, and expressed concern over the slow pace of foodgrain movement from the state.
Officials informed the meeting that 75.67 LMT of foodgrains have been lifted from Punjab between January and July this year, including 37.13 LMT of wheat and 38.54 LMT of paddy.
The state currently has a covered storage capacity, including silos, of 181 LMT and an open storage capacity of 68 LMT.
The GoM noted that Punjab has repeatedly requested the Centre to raise the monthly foodgrain lifting to at least 12 LMT, but the current movement is only around 5 LMT per month, creating pressure on storage facilities ahead of fresh arrivals.
The ministers decided to seek a meeting with the Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution to raise the issue of faster foodgrain movement and other procurement-related matters.
It was also informed that Punjab has sought a procurement target of 180 LMT of paddy for the central pool during the forthcoming kharif procurement season.
Paddy will be procured at the minimum support price of Rs 2,462 per quintal.
The draft Custom Milling Policy has been sent to the Finance Department for approval, and the Centre is expected to fix a wheat procurement target of 132 LMT for the Rabi Marketing Season 2027-28, the statement said.
PTI
