Millers are privately purchasing non-basmati with renewed vigour this season in Punjab that contributes almost half of rice for public distribution system. Eying prospects of higher margins in export of non-basmati, private millers in Punjab this season have purchased more than double compared to corresponding period in the last kharif marketing season. This year millers have already bought around 2 lakh tonnes of paddy compared to 1.5 lakh tonnes in the entire procurement season in the last year. The procurement is midway in Punjab that contributed 165 lakh tonnes of paddy in 2016-17. The private buying is set to further rise in the state as the millers are expecting rise in demand of non basmati from the export destinations. “The private purchase has already surpassed figure of the last year and it is expected to multiply this year. Export of Indian non basmati is growing more than basmati variety and the country exported 68 million tonnes of non-basmati in 2016-17. Around 32 million tonnes of non basmati was exported during April-August in 2017-18.