Punjab cuts market, rural development fee for basmati to 1%

HT Correspondent

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab government on Tuesday announced reduction in the market development fee (MDF) and rural development fee (RDF) rates from 2% to 1% each to provide a level playing field for basmati traders and millers from within and outside Punjab, particularly in the light of the provisions of the new farm bills.

Chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh made the announcement. The move will help keep Punjab basmati competitive in the international market and provide relief of Rs 100 crore to basmati traders/millers, according to an official spokesperson.

The change comes with the caveat that no refund of any fee will be allowed to any paddy/ rice dealer/miller/trader for the export of the basmati paddy/ rice to other countries from the state.

The CM’s announcements came in response to a proposal of the Punjab Mandi Board, made after examination of the representations received from the Punjab Rice Millers and Exporters Association and the Punjab Basmati Rice Millers and Exporter Association. The basmati exporters and millers had petitioned the state government to charge a lumpsum cess of 1% in place of all other levies. Allows use of miller premises To ensure smooth and seamless procurement of paddy during the kharif season amid Covid-19, the CM announced a slew of amendments to the custom milling policy (CMP) 2020-21, including allowing use of miller premises as mandi yards.

The CM approved deletion of clause 12 (j) of the CMP for this purpose. The clause deals with those millers who are also commission agents/arhtiyas and, under existing rules, were not allowed to be allotted to the agency for which they were operating as commission agents, according to an official spokesperson.

The decision was taken by the chief minister on the basis of a proposal of the food and civil supplies department, after examining the concerns raised by the Punjab Rice Industry Association.

Paddy to be procured at 4,500 locations

With no signs of Covid-19 subsiding anytime soon, the Punjab food and civil supplies department has decided to stagger paddy procurement on the lines of wheat purchase made from April to June amid pandemicinduced lockdown.

But this time, 2,650 temporary purchasing centres have been set up besides the existing 1,850 such facilities, taking the total to 4,500. There will be at least 1,000 more centres than the one set up during the wheat procurement season.

To maintain social distancing, a cluster of 3-4 villages will have one designated procurement centre.