Total government procurement of wheat likely to fall below 300 lakh tonnes

27-May-2025 01:43 PM

New Delhi. The government procurement process for wheat has concluded in Punjab, Haryana, and Madhya Pradesh—three key states that contribute the most to the central wheat pool—while procurement activities are progressing slowly in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. Most government procurement centres in these two states remain largely inactive.

Although farmers still have wheat stocks available for sale, they are reluctant to sell to government agencies as wholesale market prices have started to rise again.

According to available data, as of May 25, 2025, the government had procured 297.80 lakh tonnes of wheat for the central pool. This represents a 13.4 percent increase—equivalent to 35.10 lakh tonnes—compared to the 262.70 lakh tonnes procured during the same period last year.

However, given the current slow pace of procurement in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, the total government wheat procurement is unlikely to cross 300 lakh tonnes by the end of the procurement period on June 30. The government had initially set a procurement target of 332.70 lakh tonnes for this year.

The government offered an additional bonus of Rs 175 per quintal in Madhya Pradesh and Rs 150 per quintal in Rajasthan over and above the minimum support price of Rs 2425 per quintal.

This helped boost procurement in these states. However, procurement performance in Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh did not meet expectations.

In its second advance estimate, the Union Agriculture Ministry had projected a record wheat production of 1154.30 lakh tonnes during the Rabi season of 2024–25.

The upcoming third advance estimate is expected to raise the figure to 1170 lakh tonnes. This projection aligns with estimates made by the US Department of Agriculture.

In Punjab, 119.30 lakh tonnes of wheat were procured against the target of 124 lakh tonnes, while in Haryana, 71.40 lakh tonnes were procured against the target of 75 lakh tonnes.