Chandigarh, Apr 5 (IANS): The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday cleared Rs 21,658.73 crore towards the Cash Credit Limit (CCL) up to April for the procurement of wheat in Punjab.

With this, the bulk of the CCL sought by the state government for the purchase of 105.60 lakh tonnes of wheat for this season has been released by the central bank.

The release of the CCL would facilitate the state in making payments to farmers against purchase of food grains in the current season, which would begin from April 10 and culminate on May 31, according to an official spokesperson.

The Central government has fixed the minimum support price (MSP) of wheat at Rs 1,975 per quintal, hiking it by Rs 50 from last year's Rs 1,925 per quintal.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh directed the Food and Civil Supplies Department to ensure that the farmers do not face any hassles in the procurement of their produce especially amid the Covid-19 pandemic.