Chennai: Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa on Wednesday announced a hike in procurement price for paddy for the current kharif season. In a press statement, the Chief Minister said the Central government had fixed Rs 1,410 per quintal as procurement price for ordinary variety of paddy and Rs 1,450 for fine variety. To safeguard the interest of farmers, the Tamil Nadu government has decided to give Rs 50 and Rs 70 for ordinary and fine varieties of paddy, which is in addition to the Minimum Support Price (MSP) announced by the Centre.
Thus, in Tamil Nadu, Rs 1,460 and Rs 1,520 per quintal would be given to ordinary and fine varieties of paddy from October 1. Ms. Jayalalithaa also extended the special public distribution system (PDS) scheme to sell urad dhal, toor dhal and palm oil at subsidized rates for one more year till September, 2016.
The distribution of pulses and palm oil through PDS has come to an end on Wednesday. Under the scheme, urad dhal and toor dhal were being sold at '30 per kg and palm oil at Rs 25 per kg. Now, with the state extending the scheme for another one year would mean an additional expenditure of Rs 2,000 crore to state exchequer.
