Chandigarh, October 15:- Government procurement of paddy is progressing rapidly in Haryana during the kharif procurement season. The state's procurement agencies have purchased 1.552 million metric tonnes of paddy so far, and payments amounting to Rs. 1,221 crore have been made to farmers. The Minimum Support Price (MSP) has been fixed at Rs. 2,441 per quintal for common-grade paddy and Rs. 2,461 per quintal for Grade A paddy.
Chief Secretary Anurag Rastogi today reviewed paddy procurement and assessed arrivals at mandis, procurement, lifting, payments to farmers and progress on efforts to make the procurement process more effective, transparent and farmer-friendly.
The review meeting emphasised better coordination among district administrations, procurement agencies, mandi officials, transporters and rice mill owners to ensure smooth arrangements throughout the procurement season. Discussions were also held on making adequate lifting arrangements, ensuring transparent weighing and moisture testing, and streamlining procurement-related documentation.
Amanit P. Kumar, Principal Secretary of the Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department, said that 2.127 million metric tonnes of paddy had arrived at mandis across the state so far. Of this, 1.552 million metric tonnes had been procured and 769,000 metric tonnes lifted. Against the Central Government's procurement target of 5.8 million metric tonnes for the Kharif Marketing Season 2026–27, the state has achieved approximately 27 per cent of the target so far.
The meeting also reviewed important aspects such as timely payments to farmers, smooth issuance of gate passes and effective verification through digital means. Interacting with Deputy Commissioners, the Chief Secretary directed them to remove obstacles in the procurement process and accelerate procurement and lifting by ensuring better coordination among the concerned agencies.
The district-wise review showed encouraging progress in procurement in several districts. In the ratio of auctioned paddy to arrivals, Kurukshetra ranked first at 88.2 per cent, followed by Yamunanagar at 81.8 per cent and Ambala at 80.7 per cent. The state average stood at 74.7 per cent.
In the ratio of procurement to auctioned paddy, Panchkula led at 93.7 per cent. The ratio was 92.4 per cent in Kurukshetra and 90.9 per cent in Kaithal. Ambala recorded 89.3 per cent, Yamunanagar 85.4 per cent and Karnal 78.5 per cent, while the state average was 86 per cent.
In the ratio of lifting to auctioned paddy, Panchkula ranked first at 57.1 per cent. The ratio was 55 per cent in Kurukshetra and 52.2 per cent in Kaithal, while Ambala recorded 49.4 per cent. The state average in this category was 48.2 per cent.
The state government is also promoting the use of digital technology in paddy procurement and rice mill operations. The meeting was informed that 1,433 rice mills had been registered through the new online rice mill registration portal. In addition, geofencing-based physical verification of 1,215 mills had been completed. Electricity consumption and power bills of rice mills are also being monitored, further strengthening oversight of the milling process.
The procurement process is also being made more transparent through Aadhaar-based biometric verification. So far, biometric verification has been completed for 152,136 farmers. Government procurement of paddy began on September 29 at 249 designated mandis across the state and will continue until November 15.
Additional Chief Secretary of the Finance Department Sudhir Rajpal; Additional Chief Secretary of the Public Works (Buildings and Roads) Department A.K. Singh; Additional Chief Secretary of the Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department Vijender Kumar; Commissioner and Secretary of the Information, Public Relations, Languages and Culture Department K. Makrand Pandurang; Managing Director of HAFED Chandrashekhar Khare; Director General of the Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department Anshaj Singh; and other senior officers were present at the meeting.
