PURI: The district administration sold 10,322.49 kg arpan rice through a tender process for Rs 2.86 crore on Thursday. Suresh Kumar Mohanty, the owner of Maa Tarini rice mill, Nimapara was awarded the tender as he quoted the highest price.
Before the inauguration of the Srimandir Parikrama corridor by the then chief minister Naveen Patnaik, over 14 tonne of rice along with betelnut and dakshina was collected from devotees across the state through ‘arpan rath’. While Rs 2.5 crore was collected through dakshina, the arpan rice brought from various areas of the state was stored at different facilities in the town.
The Suar-Mahasuar Nijog (association of temple cooks) of Srimandir was given two tonne of rice to prepare mahaprasad for distribution among devotees. The arrangement continued for a couple of months but was stopped for various reasons.
During the last 10 months, the quality of rice had deteriorated. The temple cooks said the rice had turned stale and unfit to prepare mahaprasad.