India's wheat procurement has exceeded the government's revised target of 35.54 million tonnes (mt), reaching 35.76 mt as of June 21, according to reports from The Hindu BusinessLine. This represents a 19% increase from 29.95 mt in the corresponding period last year. The current year's procurement target was revised twice from the initial 30.3 mt to 34.5 mt in the last week of April and further enhanced in June after some states sought extension of purchase period amid farmers' demand. In 2025, the government had procured 30 mt of wheat, but expected higher purchases after the Agriculture Ministry estimated the production at a record 120.66 mt.
The government's third advance estimates of agriculture crops project wheat production at 120.66 mt, higher by 2.3% from 117.94 mt in 2024-25, as reported by The Hindu BusinessLine. Out of the total 35.76 mt procured so far, 24.25 mt (nearly 68%) are under relaxed quality specifications. The wheat at the Central Pool stock maintained by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) was 53.41 mt as on June 1, against the buffer norm of 27.5 mt and the current stock is the highest since 2021 when it was over 60 mt.
Rajasthan has achieved a record procurement of 2.71 mt against 2.11 mt a year ago, while Uttar Pradesh bought 2.16 mt from 1.03 mt a year ago, according to The Hindu BusinessLine. Bihar's procurement reached 40,364 tonnes, more than double from 18,087 tonnes a year ago. The Centre raised purchase targets for these states, increasing Uttar Pradesh from 1 mt to 2.5 mt, Rajasthan from 2.1 mt to 2.85 mt, and Bihar from 18,000 tonnes to 0.18 mt.
In Madhya Pradesh, the Centre purchased 10.44 mt against 7.77 mt a year ago, up by 34%, after accepting the state's request to revise the target to over 10 mt from 7.8 mt fixed earlier, as reported by The Hindu BusinessLine. Punjab's procurement ended at 12.16 mt against 11.92 mt a year ago, up by 2%, with almost the entire quantity under relaxed quality due to widespread lustre loss from unseasonal rains and hailstorms. In Haryana, the Centre purchased nearly 8.12 mt against 7.08 mt, exceeding the target of 7.2 mt as the procurement ended May 15 after an early start.
The Rajasthan government is under pressure from the Opposition as former chief minister Ashok Gehlot has sought extension of procurement, which ended on June 19, till June 30, according to The Hindu BusinessLine. An official source confirmed that the Centre has no issue if the state government extends the procurement period. The previous record in Rajasthan was 2.34 mt in 2021-22 when wheat procurement from all states was an all-time high of 43.34 mt. For the future, the Centre has fixed a target to procure 12.2 mt wheat from Punjab in 2026-27 as 11.92 mt was bought in entire 2025-26.
