Centre provides 1.5 mn tonnes of chana at discount for states' programmes

Procurement limit for tur, urad and masur raised

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved allocating 1.5 million tonnes of chana (gram) at a discount of Rs 8 per kg for states to distribute through their welfare programmes.

The Centre, which has an inventory of around 3.1 million tonnes of chana, will incur an expenditure of Rs 1,200 crore. It also raised the procurement ceiling for tur, urad and masur under the Price Support Scheme (PSS) from 25 to 40—a decision meant to benefit growers. PSS, an Agriculture Ministry programme, is operationalised when prices of agri-produce fall below the minimum support price (MSP), while Price Stabilisation Fund (PSF) is a