Government agencies and private millers procured more than 9.44 million (94,42,000) tonnes of wheat till last evening, whereas 98,92,000 tonnes wheat were procured last year. Of the total procurement of 94,42,000 tonnes of wheat in all the procurement centres of Punjab, government agencies procured 94,23,000 tonnes of wheat (99.08 per cent) till date whereas private traders procured 18,397 tonnes (0.2 per cent) of wheat. The central government agency Food Corporation of India had been able to procure 13,83,000 tonnes of wheat which was 14.7 per cent of the total procurement of wheat in the state.
The spokesman added that Ferozepur with 10,91,000 tonnes of procurement was leading in procurement operations whereas district Sangrur with 9,47,000 tonnes of procurement was at the second slot and district Patiala with 8,17,000 tonnes of procurement ranked third. The state government has set up 1,734 centres and activated its total machinery to ensure smooth procurement of wheat, the spokesman added.