At a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in Bhubaneswar on Thursday, the state government has decided to procure 48 lakh metric tonnes of rice during the Kharif and Rabi seasons. In terms of paddy, this comes to around 71 lakh metric tonnes.
For the Kharif season, paddy will be procured from November this year to March 2021 and for Rabi, it would be from May to June 2021.
The Food Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister has been assigned to revisit the target if need arises.
The Cabinet also approved a proposal for providing government guarantee of Rs 2600 crore for the loans to be availed by GRIDCO, the bulk power supplier of the state, during the financial year 2020-21.
The Cabinet also approved several construction projects in Puri under Augmentation of Basic Amenities and Development of Heritage and Architecture (ABADHA) Scheme. They include the tender of NCC Limited amounting to Rs 461.25 crore for construction of Jagannath Ballav Pilgrim Centre, market complex and Shree Setu along with extension of Musa river in the pilgrim city.