DISPOSAL
OF PADDY BY STATE GOVERNMENTS
ONLY
TENDERS ABOVE RS. 450/- QUINTAL TO BE CONSIDERED
The Food Ministry has rejected
all tenders for disposal of paddy procured by State Governments
of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharastra quoting below Rs.
450/- per quintal. Only bids of Rs. 450/- per quintal or higher
rates have been accepted keeping in view the minimum support prices
for paddy during the kharif marketing season 2001-02 and the prevailing
market prices. A time limit of 14 days to deposit the money has
been given both to the successful bidders as well as other parties
willing to lift the stocks at Rs.450 per quintal.
The State Government
of Chhattisgarh had invited tenders for the disposal of paddy
procured by it. The rates received in response to the tenders
were less than Rs.378 per quintal in respect of 2.09 lakh tonnes,
the rates were between Rs.378 and Rs.450 per quintal for 65,734
tonnes and the rates were more than Rs.450 per quintal for 7915
MTs.
If the tenders below
Rs.450 per quintal had been accepted, the loss incurred would
have been approximately Rs.69 crore.
The State Government
has been directed to have the unlifted quantity of paddy milled
immediately into raw rice and issue the resultant rice under TPDS
and other Welfare Schemes. In the interest of consumers, the State
Government has also been informed that half value cut would be
imposed on all resultant raw rice where the broken percentage
is in excess of 30%.
The State Governments
of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra have also been directed to accept
tenders of above Rs.450 per quintal for disposal of the procured
paddy stock. These State Governments have been asked to convert
the unlifted paddy into rice. The quantity of paddy available
for disposal in Madhya Pradesh is 1.68 lakh tonnes, while the
quantity of paddy available in Maharashtra is 85,509 tonnes.
