Chandigarh, March 29: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday cleared a sum of Rs. 19,240.91 Crore towards Cash Credit Limit (CCL) for Punjab for the purchase of wheat in the ensuing rabi marketing season.
With this, the bulk of the CCL sought by the state government for the purchase of 130 lakh tonnes of wheat for this season has been released by the central bank.
The release of the CCL would facilitate the state government in making timely payments to farmers against purchases of food grains in the current season, which would begin from April 1 and culminate on May 25, according to an official spokesperson.
The Central government has fixed the minimum support price (MSP) of wheat at Rs.1840 per quintal, hiking it by Rs.105 from last year’s Rs.1735 per quintal.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh reviewed the arrangements for smooth wheat procurement this afternoon and issued strict directives to the Food & Civil Supplies Department to ensure that the farmers do not face any hassles in the procurement of their grain.
