In Chhattisgarh, the government's paddy procurement has reached an impressive 50 lakh tonnes, surpassing the target of 16 lakh tonnes for this season. The procurement process, which began on November 15, continues to gather momentum, with government agencies purchasing paddy from farmers at the minimum support price. Chhattisgarh is the second-largest contributor of paddy to India's central pool, following Punjab.

The procurement has been spread across different divisions of the state:

• Raipur division: 14.52 lakh tonnes
• Bilaspur division: 9.76 lakh tonnes
• Durg division: 17.79 lakh tonnes
• Bastar division: 4.13 lakh tonnes
• Surguja division: 3.80 lakh tonnes

This year's procurement process is seeing regular registration, permission, and milling contracts, as any issues with rice millers earlier have now been resolved. In total, 27.78 lakh farmers registered to sell paddy, with 10.66 lakh already having sold their stock. Of these, 2.92 lakh are small and marginal farmers, while 6.26 lakh are larger farmers.

For the anticipated procurement of 160 lakh tonnes, the state requires 4 lakh bales of gunny bags, of which 3.65 lakh bales are already available. Additionally, storage capacity in the state has been increased to 37.25 lakh tonnes. A significant number of millers—2,133—applied for custom milling, with 1,672 being successfully registered. The paddy purchase is expected to continue through December and January.