Himachal govt to purchase apples under MIS

Shimla: Himachal Pradesh govt. will start procuring apples under the MIS scheme from July 20th onwards.

A government spokesman said the government had given its approval for procurement of C-grade apples under the  Market Intervention Scheme for 2010 season.

He said 65,900 metric tonnes of apples would be procured under the scheme @Rs. 5.25 per kg by the government agencies namely HPMC, HIMFED, HPAIC. A total of 253 procurement centres would be opened and  more procurement centres would also be opened later-on as per demand from the growers.

He said that apples would only be procured from horticulture card-holders not from the contractors.

The spokesman added that 10,000 metric tonne apples will be provided free of cost to HPMC for preparation of juice and remaining apples will be sold in open markets.

The procurement inder MIS will be done from 20th July to 31st October, 2010