LAHORE: Punjab Food Department has made arrangements for procurement of 3.5 million tons of wheat during its annual procurement drive.
Official sources told APP on Thursday that Food Department is all set to initiate annual wheat procurement drive from the next week, adding Punjab government has negotiated with a consortium of commercial banks to provide financing for the procurement campaign.
Both federal and provincial procurement agencies have made financing arrangements and awaiting the government to announce procurement targets and support price. It was learnt that Punjab would announce wheat procurement policy in couple of days.
Punjab government would require around Rs200 billion for wheat procurement, to purchase wheat at the rate of Rs 1,050 per 40 kg.
On the other hand, Pakistan Agriculture Storage and Services Corporation Limited (PASSCO) sources disclosed that it had made logistics and financial arrangements for the purchase of 1.5 million tons of wheat It would start wheat procurement drive in mid-April.
PASSCO has divided wheat growing provinces, including Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan, in 11 zones for the annual wheat procurement campaign. It would established 5-7 procurement centres in all tehsils after consulting with provincial food departments.