mandi bhav of india

- Advertisement -

Chhattisgarh cabinet gives nod to e-auction of surplus paddy

Raipur, The Chhattisgarh government on Thursday decided to sell surplus paddy procured from farmers in the kharif marketing year 2020-21 in the state through e- auction, an official said.

A decision in this regard was taken during a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel in the premises of the legislative assembly here, he said.

In the kharif marketing year (KMY) 2020-21, 92 lakh metric tonne (LMT) of paddy was procured from farmers at minimum support price (MSP) in the state.

The Union government has agreed to accept 24 LMT of rice (after custom milling of paddy) from Chhattisgarh for the central pool through the Food Corporation of India (FCI), the public relations department official said.

After fulfilling the requirement of 24 LMT quota of rice for the states Public Distribution System, there remains a surplus stock of 20.5 lakh MT of paddy, he said.

The cabinet approved a proposal for disposal of this surplus stock of paddy through auction process at the cooperative society-level, he said.

A cabinet sub-committee constituted for paddy procurement and custom milling will decide the maximum rate for auction, he added.

Talking to PTI, Food Minister Amarjeet Bhagat said around 71 LMT of paddy, out of 92 LMT procured by the government, will be disposed after supplying the custom milled rice from it to central and state pools.

The remaining paddy will be sold through e-auction although the Chhattisgarh government will appeal to the Centre to accept more rice from the state for the national pool of foodgrain stocks, Bhagat said.

The cabinet also ratified a decision of the Board of Directors of Chhattisgarh StatePower Generation Company Ltd (CSPGCL) regarding the complete closure of two 120 MW capacity thermal power plants situated in Korba district, the official said.

It authorised the energy department to decide upon usage of the land which will fall vacant after the closure of the two units, he said.

Among other approved proposals, the cabinet decided that government departments will procure Ayurvedic medicines, herbal products and food items, processed from minor forest produce, from their manufacturer Chhattisgarh State Minor Forest Produce (Trading and Development) Co-operative Federation, he said.

It also decided to procure kodo, kutki and ragi millets at MSP from scheduled areas (tribal inhabited regions) of the state, the official added. PTI