Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Pralhad Joshi said that 185 Lakh Metric Tonnes (LMT) of Paddy fixed for Kharif Marketing Season 2024-25 will be procured and not a single grain of paddy will be left out. Addressing a press conference in New Delhi on Sunday, Mr Joshi announced that an online portal for grievance redressal of rice millers will be launched shortly so that any difficulties faced by the stakeholders can be addressed promptly.

The Minister informed that in Punjab, the procurement of paddy officially commenced on 1st October, with two thousand 700 designated mandis to ensure smooth operations. He said, due to heavy rainfall in September and higher moisture content in paddy, the harvesting and procurement were slightly delayed adding that 50 Lakh Metric Tonnes of Paddy has been procured so far. He also denied rumours regarding the shortage of grain storage saying that several high level meetings have been conducted with the Punjab Government to ensure adequate storage arrangements. The Minister added that additionally, 31 Lakh Metric Tonnes storage capacities will be created under the Private Entrepreneurs Guarantee scheme.