Chandigarh, Apr 28 (IANS): Wheat arrivals in Punjab on Friday crossed 105 lakh metric tons, surpassing the last year total arrival of 102.7 lakh MT wheat.

More than 100 lakh MT has already been purchased by government agencies, Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister Lal Chand Kataruchak said.

He said 4.5 lakh MT wheat arrived in the mandis on Friday and with this trend, the total procurement of wheat will be at least 20 lakh MT more than the previous season.

Expressing satisfaction at MSP payments to the farmers, the minister said breaking all previous year records, Rs 18,366 crore has been released for payment to 5,72,822 farmers till Friday and it is being ensured that payments are released to farmers within 48 hours of purchase.

The minister further added for ensuring complete transparency in the procurement of wheat, the vehicle tracking system has been implemented in the state during the ongoing wheat procurement season.

The number of vehicles with GPS fitted on them has increased to more than 30,000 as on date and more than 20,2250 online gate passes have been issued through the vehicle tracking system.