Wheat procurement target crossed
The Union government has crossed the wheat procurement target of 150 lakh tonnes this rabi, and hopes to lift about 180 lakh tonnes for the Public Distribution System, which will be the highest in five years. This will not only ease the supply-side constraints, but also have a salutary effect on wheat prices. In the last two years, the government had imported 7.3 million tonnes of wheat to augment the stocks and meet its welfare scheme requirements.