Wheat bonus unlikely to be extended beyond June 15

The bonus period for wheat procurement in Haryana and Punjab is unlikely to be extended beyond June 15 as the arrival of the foodgrain has started slowing down in these states.

"We are serious about not extending the bonus period again beyond June 15," a senior government official said.

Wheat arrivals at mandis in the two states are also poor, the official said, adding, "there was no reason to extend the bonus further". The Centre last month extended the period of wheat procurement and bonus by a fortnight till May 31 though Punjab had demanded it to be extended by a month.

This development has allowed the Food Corporation of India (FCI) to procure wheat at Rs 850 a quintal, which includes a bonus of Rs 100 a quintal over and above the minimum support price of Rs 750 a quintal. Wheat procurement in Punjab and Haryana after May 31 did not match the government's expectation, the official said.

The wheat procurement in Punjab, as on June 12, stood at 65.75 lakh tonnes against a target of 75 lakh tonnes this rabi marketing season (April-July), while in Haryana it reached at 33.42 lakh tonnes against the target of 45 lakh tonnes.

FCI purchased 23,251 tonnes of wheat from Punjab and 19,747 tonnes in Haryana between June 1 and 12, according to data maintained by FCI. In Haryana, the arrival of wheat was only 21,337 tonnes while Punjab mandis received 29,143 tonnes since June 1 in the current marketing season.

Yesterday, the wheat procurement was only 3,200 tonnes in Punjab and 714 tonnes in Haryana. Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Badal said on May 29 that "as much as 20 lakh tonnes of wheat are currently with farmers in the state."