In Chhattisgarh, e-auction of surplus paddy to start from March 3

The Chhattisgarh government decided to sell surplus paddy procured from farmers in the Kharif marketing year 2020-21 in the state through e-auction from March 3. About 3.89 lakh metric tonne surplus to be auctioned from 144 farmer committees of these districts. The auction for the first week will be done from 11 am to 3 pm, except Saturday, Sunday.

Raipur: As the Chhattisgarh government decided to sell surplus paddy procured from farmers in the Kharif marketing year 2020-21 in the state through e-auction from March 3, farmers have registered themselves online to sell their paddy.

According to government officials, Dhamtari, Bilaspur, Gorela Pandra Marwahi, Janjgir-Champa, Mungeli, Raigad, Balod, Bemetara, Durg, Kawardha, Rajnandgaon, Balodabazar, Gariaband and Mahasamund districts have been included in the first-week auction.

About 3.89 lakh metric tonne surplus to be auctioned from 144 farmer committees of these districts. The auction for the first week will be done from 11 am to 3 pm, except Saturday, Sunday.

The detailed auction schedule, variety of gunny bags, the quantity of paddy and publication of auction-related information have been released by Markfed Publication, officials said.

The registration process for the e-auction of surplus paddy on the online platform has been started on February 18. The criteria of buyer's registration on the e-auction platform, terms and time schedule of paddy auction can be seen on the respective websites.

It is pertinent to be mentioned here that the Union government has agreed to accept 24 LMT of rice (after custom milling of paddy) from Chhattisgarh for the central pool through the Food Corporation of India (FCI).

After fulfilling the requirement of a 24 LMT quota of rice for the states Public Distribution System, there remains a surplus stock of 20.5 lakh MT of paddy.

The cabinet approved a proposal for disposal of this surplus stock of paddy through an auction process at the cooperative society-level.

A cabinet sub-committee constituted for paddy procurement and custom milling will decide the maximum rate for auction.

In the Kharif marketing year (KMY) 2020-21, 92 lakh metric tonne (LMT) of paddy was procured from farmers at minimum support price (MSP) in the state.

A cabinet sub-committee constituted for paddy procurement and custom milling will decide the maximum rate for auction, he added.

Food Minister Amarjeet Bhagat said around 71 LMT of paddy, out of 92 LMT procured by the government, will be disposed of after supplying the custom milled rice from it to central and state pools.

The remaining paddy will be sold through e-auction although the Chhattisgarh government will appeal to the Centre to accept more rice from the state for the national pool of foodgrain stocks, Bhagat said.

(With inputs from agencies)