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Centre won't procure Chhattisgarh's entire rice produce due to its higher MSP
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SME Times News Bureau | 14 Feb, 2019
The Congress party's electoral promise to raise the procurement rate of
paddy at Rs 2,500 per quintal in Chhattisgarh is set to put an
additional burden on the state treasury. This is because the Centre has
refused to procure the entire produce from the state citing violation of
the prescribed norms as the state has set a higher procurement price.
As
per rough estimates, Chhattisgarh, which last week presented a Rs
91,542 crore budget for 2019-20, would have to shell out another Rs
11,600 crore for paddy procurement - but has budgeted only Rs 5,000
crore.
According to a Food Ministry official, the Chhattisgarh
government has been informed that the Food Corp of India (FCI) would
procure about 2.4 million tonnes of rice for the public distribution
programmes and 2.4 million tonnes of boiled rice - both at Rs 1,750 per
quintal - the Minimum Support Price (MSP) fixed by the Centre.
Total
paddy production the state is expected to touch 8 million tonnes this
year against 7.1 million tonnes last year. The FCI would procure 4.8
million tonnes, which means the state government will have to bear the
entire expense for purchasing the remaining 3.2 million tonnes.
In
addition, for the 4.8 million tonnes, it will have to shell out the
difference between the state announced rate and the central government's
MSP, which comes to an additional Rs 750 per quintal.
"We are
procuring 2.4 million tonnes of paddy that will be used for the welfare
schemes including the National Food Security Mission. Despite the
violation of the norms, we have granted an exemption. We will also
procure 2.4 million tonnes of boiled rice, all at the MSP of Rs 1,750
per quintal," said the official.
The Chhattisgarh government has
allotted Rs 21,597 crore for the agriculture sector in the 2019-20
budget, earmarking Rs 5,000 for paddy procurement. It's unclear where
the remaining Rs 6,600 crore will come from.
Apart from the
state's own production, a significant chunk of farmers from adjoining
states of Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra are likely
to sell their paddy produce in Chhattisgarh because of the attractive
price it offers.
Even if the state government takes care of the
expenses, the central government is concerned over the increase in the
paddy acreage and challenges from the World Trade Organisation (WTO) for
violating multilateral trading rules due to farm subsidy.
"We
are trying to divert a part of cultivation to cereal grains as they are
nutritious and require less water. The Chhattisgarh government's
decision will not just encourage farmers to go for paddy cultivation but
it may lead to farmers from the other states seeking higher rates as
well," said a source.
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