The government's wheat purchase has increased nearly three-fold to 14.58 million tons (mt) so far in the 2016-17 marketing year starting this month. The procurement as on April 21 was 14.58 mt, which shows an increase of 9.70 mt over the previous year.
Wheat procurement was 5 mt in the year-ago. Food Corporation of India (FCI) and state agencies undertake wheat procurement at the support price. The government has kept a wheat procurement target of 30.5 mt for the current year, as against actual procurement of 28.08 mt in the last year.