Chandigarh, Oct 28 (IANS): Agrarian states Punjab and Haryana have procured over 160 lakh tonne of paddy this season so far, Food and Supplies Department officials said here on Friday.

Punjab has procured over 111.37 lakh tonne of paddy while in Haryana nearly 49 lakh tonne has been procured.

Government agencies have procured 98 per cent of the paddy arriving in grain markets in Punjab.

In Haryana, government agencies have procured nearly 96 per cent of the paddy arrivals. The rest of the paddy has been procured by rice millers and traders.

The procurement of paddy began in both states on October 1.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has sanctioned an amount of nearly Rs 28,263 crore to Punjab to make payments to farmers for the paddy procured.

The paddy arrival and procurement will continue till the end of November.

Both states are expecting a bumper crop this year with total procurement likely to be around 225 lakh tonne.