Changes in paddy milling policy in Punjab expected to provide relief to dealers
09-Oct-2024 04:25 PM
Chandigarh. The Punjab government has approved the new custom milling policy to allocate stock to rice millers for custom milling of paddy purchased from farmers by subordinate agencies during the current Kharif marketing season 2024-25 and to deposit the rice produced from its milling (CMR) in the central pool on time.
A decision to this effect was taken in the state cabinet meeting chaired by the Chief Minister on the previous day.
Some changes have been made in the custom milling policy which is expected to provide relief to rice millers / shellers.
In Punjab, paddy is procured in large quantities by the central agency - Food Corporation of India (FCI) as well as provincial agencies like Pangrain, Markfed, Punsup and State Warehousing Corporation. The government procurement season of Kharif paddy has formally started in Punjab from October 1.
After the change in the custom milling policy, now the sheller owners can mortgage the papers of their plant in the name of the procurement agency.
Rice millers will be directly linked to the Mandis online and distribution of paddy will also be done through online portal. To get the quota of paddy, the bank security of sheller owners has been reduced to Rs. 5 lakhs.
It is worth mentioning that the paddy milling policy is revised or updated every year in Punjab. The purchase of paddy from farmers at minimum support price (MSP) in the state starts from 1st October and continues till 30th November. Earlier, sheller owners had to deposit the equivalent amount of the paddy price received from the government as security money but now it will be necessary to deposit only Rs. 5 lakhs.
Apart from this, sheller owners had to give bank guarantee as per the stock but now as another option, they can mortgage their property papers with the agencies.
The fee for custom milling has been reduced by Rs. 10 from Rs. 175 per tonne to Rs. 165 per tonne. Rice millers will be required to mill the entire quantity of paddy and deposit the stock of rice in government warehouses by March 31, 2025.