Chandigarh, October 6: The Centre on Thursday sanctioned cash credit limit (CCL) amount of Rs 28,262.84 crore for procurement of paddy in Punjab in the kharif marketing season. The move follows chief minister Amarinder Singh taking up the matter with Union finance minister Arun Jaitley recently.
The amount has been sanctioned for procurement of paddy in the current marketing season, which will last till the end of October, said a government spokesperson. Meanwhile, Amarinder has directed all state procurement agencies to take immediate steps to ensure timely payment to the farmers for their produce.
In a related development, the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) has assured the state government that it will start procurement of cotton crop in the state within a week. According to an official spokesperson, the assurance was given by CCIofficials to the additional chief secretary (development) during a joint meeting held here on Wednesday between officials of the CCI, agriculture department and Punjab Mandi Board.
