Proposal in works to buy 100K tonnes of maize at MSP

Broad contours of the purchase plan have been discussed

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With the supply of sugar looking tight with every passing month, the government is veering towards a proposal to make maize one of the primary items of feedstock in the ethanol-blending programme.

For this it is working on a proposal to procure a minimum of 100,000 tonnes of maize at the minimum support price (MSP) from farmers this year through state-supported agencies for distribution to distilleries.

Sources said the broad contours of the purchase plan were recently discussed by top officials and matters such as financial support to state agencies were deliberated upon.

Nafed, the National Cooperative Consumers' Federation, and Primary Agriculture Cooperative Societies (PACS) are the agencies through which this annual procurement is proposed to be carried out.