New Punjab govt cancels all tenders issued during Badal regime for wheat procurement

New Punjab govt has cancelled all the labour and transportation tenders issued during the previous Badal regime for the upcoming wheat procurement season, and has invited fresh tenders, while directing the Deputy Commissioners to personally supervise the procurement process beginning April1. After a high-level meeting chaired by CM Captain Amarinder Singh, it was decided that fresh tenders could be submitted till 5 pm on March 24 and would be opened the next day by the respective committees headed by the Deputy Commissioners of the concerned districts. The entire tendering process would be completed by March 31, before the two-month procurement process kicks-off on April1. Mandis had been allotted to six procurement agencies-PUNGRAIN, Markfed, PUNSUP, Punjab State Warehousing Corporation, Punjab Agro Foodgrain Corporation and FCI as per the share allocated to them by the state govt. The agencies would procure, an estimated, 122 Lakh Metric Tonne wheat during this procurement drive.