Procurement of pulses worth Rs 13,890 crore in UP, Gujarat to benefit both: Agri ministry

“He [Chouhan] directed the two states to conduct the entire procurement process in a transparent manner to protect the interests of farmers, adding that procurement worth Rs 13,890.60 crore in both states would benefit them directly,” the statement said.

The ministry’ announcement came after a virtual meeting chaired by Chouhan on Tuesday. The meeting was attended by Uttar Pradesh Agriculture Minister Surya Pratap Shahi, Gujarat Agriculture Minister Raghavji Patel, Union Agriculture Secretary Dr Devesh Chaturvedi, along with senior agriculture officials of the Centre and both state governments.

During the meeting, Chouhan emphasised that the procurement process must be “transparent, digital and smooth.”

“The agriculture ministers of both states assured that procurement would be carried out through digital portals with biometric authentication and POS machine systems,” said the statement.

After discussions on Uttar Pradesh’s proposal, Chouhan approved the procurement of 2,27,860 metric tonnes (100 per cent) of urad worth Rs 1,777.30 crore, as per the statement.

“He [Chouhan] also approved the 100 per cent procurement of 1,13,780 metric tonnes of tur, valued at ?910.24 crore. In addition, procurement of 1,983 metric tonnes of moong, worth ?17.38 crore, was approved. The Minister also sanctioned procurement of 30,410 metric tonnes of sesame worth Rs 299.42 crore, and 99,438 metric tonnes of groundnut worth Rs 722.22 crore,” the statement said.

For Gujarat, Chouhan approved the procurement of 47,780 metric tonnes of urad, valued at Rs 72.68 crore, along with 1,09,905 metric tonnes of soybean worth Rs 585.57 crore,” the statement said.

He also approved the procurement of 12,62,163 metric tonnes of groundnut worth Rs 9,167.08 crore, and 4,415 metric tonnes of moong, valued at Rs 38.71 crore, it added.