New Delhi: As reported by सिर्फ़ NEWS last year, the government had approved a scheme for setting up of a national agriculture market (NAM) through the Agri-Tech Infrastructure Fund (ATIF) on 1 July 2015 with a budget of Rs 200 crore to be implemented during 2015-16 to 2017-18.
The scheme envisages implementation of the NAM by setting up an appropriate common e-market platform that would be deployable in regulated wholesale markets in States and Union Territories desirous of joining the e-platform. The Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC) will implement the national e-platform in 585 selected regulated markets and cover 400 mandis (wholesale market) in 2016-17 and 185 mandis in 2017-18.
The Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare (DAC&FW) will meet the expenses on software and its customization for the States and provide it free of cost to the States and Union Territories. The DAC&FW will also give a grant as a one-time, fixed-cost subject to the ceiling of Rs 30.00 lakh per mandi (other than to the private mandis) for related equipment and infrastructure in 585 regulated mandis, for installation of the e-market platform. State governments will propose the regulated markets, which are to be integrated with the NAM.
Integration of regulated markets with NAM requires certain prerequisites in the State Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) Acts:
- a single license to be valid across the State,
- a 1-point levy of market fee and
- a provision for electronic auction as a mode for price discovery.
Only those States and Union Territories that have provided for these 3 prerequisites will be eligible for assistance under the scheme. Presently, the scheme envisages integration of only 585 regulated markets with NAM platform. The schedule for implementation of the policy is as follows:
- Launch of NAM platform on a pilot basis: 14 April 2016
- Integration of 200 regulated markets: by September, 2016
- Integration of 200 regulated markets: by March, 2017
- Integration of 185 regulated markets: by March 2018
This information was given by Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Mohanbhai Kalyanjibhai Kundaria in Rajya Sabha.
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