Lucknow, Sept. 27 -- The Uttar Pradesh cabinet on Friday approved the state's paddy procurement policy for the 2025-26 kharif marketing season, fixing the minimum support price (MSP) at Rs.2,369 per quintal and for Grade-A paddy at Rs.2,389 per quintal, as already announced by the Centre. This marks an increase of Rs 69 per quintal, or 3%, over last year. "Paddy procurement in western UP will start from November 1 and last till January 31 while in eastern UP it will continue until February 28, 2026. The procurement target has been set at 60 lakh metric tonnes," finance minister Suresh Khanna said, briefing media persons about the Cabinet decisions. All paddy purchase centres will be equipped with moisture metres and electronic weighing machines to ensure transparency. Farmers will be able to sell both common and Grade-A varieties of paddy along with hybrid paddy. Purchases will be made only through computerised records based on Aadhaar authentication, with farmers required to register their crop details in advance, according to the UP cabinet decision. Handling and transport contracts for procurement centres will be awarded through e-tendering. Payments to farmers will be transferred directly to their bank accounts via the PFMS portal within 48 hours of sale. Mills delivering rice to the designated depots within 15 days will receive an incentive of Rs 35 per quintal, while those delivering within 16-25 days will get Rs 30 per quintal. Paddy procured from all districts will be supplied to rice mills through GPS-enabled vehicles, with end-to-end tracking on the e-Uparjan portal integrated with the Union government's ULIP portal....