Amid the heat of the ongoing Lok Sabha electioneering, the Centre has announced plans to significantly increase wheat purchase from non-traditional states of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Bihar and set a target of seven-fold jump in procurement to 50 lakh tonnes in the ongoing 2024-25 marketing year. Further, even as the ban on outbound shipments of wheat continues, "it will be a dream for us to export now", Food Secretary Sanjeev Chopra told reporters on Thursday. "UP, Bihar, and Rajasthan have been contributing much less than they could have. We are targeting total wheat procurement of 310 lakh tonne this year. Of which, we are hoping to procure at least 50 lakh tonne from three non-traditional procurement states alone," he said. While Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Bihar put together contributed only 6.7 lakh tonnes to the central pool during the 2023-24 marketing year (April-March), the Union Food Ministry has decided to procure 16 per cent of the total wheat procurement target o