Chandigarh, Oct 23 : Agrarian states Punjab and Haryana have procured over 130 lakh tonnes of paddy this season, food and supplies department officials said here on Monday.
Punjab has procured nearly 84 lakh tonnes of paddy and Haryana over 46 lakh tonnes.
Over 97.6 per cent of the paddy in Punjab has been procured by government agencies while the figure in Haryana is 96 per cent. The rest of the paddy has been procured by rice millers and traders.
The procurement of paddy began in both states on October 1.
The Reserve Bank of India has sanctioned nearly Rs 28,263 crore to Punjab to make payments to farmers for the paddy procured.
The paddy arrival and procurement will continue till the end of November. Both states are expecting a bumper crop this year with total procurement likely to be around 225 lakh tonnes.
