Paddy procurement in Chhattisgarh is set to resume in full swing with the Congress-led State government announcing a sharp hike in the minimum support price (MSP) to ₹2,500/quintal from ₹1,750 earlier, a senior Food Ministry official said on Tuesday.

The State is expected to surpass the procurement target of 55 lakh tonnes (lt) for this year as farmers from the neighbouring States of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha are keen to sell their produce in Chhattisgarh taking advantage of the higher support price, the official added.

Paddy growers in Chhattisgarh and neighbouring States had suddenly stopped selling their produce to the government agencies in anticipation of the MSP hike, an election promise by the Congress.

As per the official data, the Chhattisgarh government has purchased 21.60 lt of paddy so far in the ongoing 2018-19 marketing year (October-September).

Immediately after taking over as Chief Minister on Monday, Bhupesh Baghel announced the MSP hike.

“Only one-third of the paddy has been procured so far. With the increase in the MSP, the paddy procurement will resume and pick up pace in the coming days,” the official told PTI.

Asked if the Central government will bear the cost, the official said, “There is no communication on this issue as of now. Otherwise, the presumption is that the State government will bear the cost. However, as a matter of policy, the hike in paddy MSP is not good as it will distort the market.”

The previous BJP government in Chhattisgarh had announced a bonus of ₹200 per quintal over the MSP, taking the total support price to ₹1,950. The Centre has given exemption to bear the cost for procurement of 24 lt of boiled rice alone.

Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, where 60 per cent of the paddy buying is over, will complete procurement by the end of this month. In Bihar and West Bengal, procurement starts from January.

So far, the Central government’s paddy procurement has reached 204 lt across the country against the targetted 375 lt for the current marketing year. Last year it procured 381.8 lt.

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