Paddy procurement likely to rise: FCI

The Food Corporation of India, the government's foodgrain procurement and distribution agency, has so far procured 3.2 million tonnes of paddy in the 2007-08 kharif procurement season (October-September). This is about 23 per cent less than last year's purchase of 4.2 million tonnes.

However, with the government announcing Rs 50 a quintal bonus on Tuesday, the Centre's procurement is expected to get a boost.

"Now that the bonus is announced, we expect daily arrival of paddy to increase from 3 to 5 lakh tonnes, leading to an increase in our procurement as well," said Alok Sinha, chairman and managing director of the corporation at a press conference.

For the 2007-08 marketing season, the minimum support price (MSP) of common paddy has been fixed at Rs 645 a quintal, up Rs 25 from last year, while the MSP for Grade A paddy has been fixed at Rs 675 a quintal, up Rs 25 from the previous year.

Speaking on media reports of substandard wheat being supplied under the public distribution system in certain states, Sinha said that once the foodgrain leaves the corporation depot and goes under the custody of the state distribution agencies, the corporation could not be held responsible for the quality.

"We always sell foodgrain to a state agency after the latter certifies the quality of the wheat or rice it is receiving is in accordance with the existing norms. We have got wheat samples from that very ration shop in Madhya Pradesh and those were absolutely fit for consumption," Sinha added.