The Centre has finally cleared the decks for resumption of rice milling in the state. The delay had not only earned the ire of rice millers in the poll season, the stakes were also high for the Punjab government as every additional month was adding to its losses on account of interest on loans and damage to unmilled paddy.

“In its letter dated May 14, the Centre has allowed to extend the milling period and relaxations till June 30,” Principal Secretary, Food and Civil Supply, SP Singh said. Notably, nearly one-third (42 lakh MT) of paddy procured last year, worth a whopping Rs 4,200 crore of rice of the Central pool (28 lakh MT), is awaiting milling due to non-extension of relaxation in specifications for damage and discolouration despite extension of the milling period till June 30.

To make matters worse, the paddy quality was also suffering from soaring temperatures which increase the percentage of broken and discoloured rice while milling and can result in nearly 3 per cent loss in its overall output. In addition to drying of paddy, the time gap has also cost Punjab additional interest burden on loans raised by the government to procure paddy, which are reimbursed only when the rice reaches the Central pool after delivery to the Food Corporation of India (FCI). Rice milling for 2008-09 has been suffering delays from the very start of the season on demand for higher relaxation in specifications. In normal course, nearly 80 per cent of milling is completed by March 31.

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