Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi yielded authorization of Cash Credit Limit (CCL) of Rs.35,712.73 crore upto end October 2021 for procurement of Paddy during Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2021-22 and extension of the time limit for liquidation of food credit account pertaining to Rabi Marketing Season (RMS) upto end July 2022.
Notably, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has sanctioned CCL of Rs.35,713 crore for paddy procurement against Rs.42,013 crore demanded by the state government and the remaining amount of Rs.6300 crore would be released close to November 2021 for purchasing paddy during that month.
The Chief Minister also thanked the Union Food Secretary for his personal intervention and helping the state in getting timely issuance of CCL for smooth procurement.
Disclosing this here today, a spokesperson of the Chief Minister’s Office said that Channi had raised this issue with the Union Secretary Food and Public Distribution Sudhanshu Pandey, who called on the Chief Minister in his office on September 24. The Chief Minister urged Pandey to take up this matter with RBI for expeditious authorisation of CCL to ensure smooth and hassle free procurement of paddy during current KMS.
The authorisation of the aforesaid CCL under new account no.II for procurement of paddy upto end October 2021, is subject to the conditions that Government of Punjab submits the Letter of Consent under Article 293(3) of the Constitution of India, obtained from Ministry of Finance, Government of India, and subject to outstanding under all the food credit accounts to be always backed by fully paid stock valued, the spokesperson added.
