MSP Payments Crosses Rs 500 Cr

Hyderabad: With paddy procurement for Rabi crossing the 10 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) mark, the state government has released Rs 500.2 billion to more than one lakh farmers to pay minimum support price.

The civil supplies department said they have procured 10.2 LMT of paddy against the target of 90 LMT for the Rabi season. The government has purchased 4.5 LMT of the fine variety (sannarakam) while the rest is of the coarse variety, an official said.

Civil supplies commissioner M Stephen Raveendra said the department was working at full capacity. All 8,575 paddy procurement centers were open, including 4,350 run by PACS, 3,563 Indira Kranthi Patham centers and 662 run by supporting organisations. Authorities were creating space for more grain by transferring paddy directly from purchasing centers to factories.