Nabard lends Rs 1,000 crore to HSWC for wheat procurement

National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) has sanctioned a loan of Rs 1,000 crore to Haryana State Warehousing Corporation (HSWC) for purchase of wheat during the ongoing rabi marketing season.

"The (Rs 1,000 crore) loan is going to help the corporation for payment of wheat purchased from farmers in various mandis/outlets in Haryana, in line with the government's resolve to pay the farmers' dues at the earliest," Nabard said in a release issued here.

The objective of foodgrain procurement by the government agencies is to ensure that farmers get remunerative price for their produce and do not have to resort to distress sale and build buffer stocks, it said.

 

The state government has authorised five agencies, namely Food and Supplies Department, HAFED, Haryana Agro Industries Corporation, Food Corporation of India and HSWC to procure wheat at minimum support price during the 2016-17 marketing season.

The Haryana Food and Supplies Department expects around 75 lakh metric tonnes of wheat in the current season.

The state is one of the major contributors to the country's central pool of foodgrains.

During the 2015-16 kharif season, Nabard had disbursed an amount of Rs 500 crore to the corporation for paddy procurement.