Karnataka cancels pvt yard licence of Metro Cash & Carry

The Karnataka government on Monday cancelled the private market yard licence to German retail giant Metro Cash & Carry, following protests by agriculture traders here.

The traders had shut shops indefinitely from Monday to protest the granting of licence. Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa yesterday ordered the cancellation of licence with immediate effect.

“We met the chief minister over the last two days and apprised him of the impact on the traders. He was convinced with our argument that the licence to Metro would harm the traders’ interests and in no way benefit the farmers,” Ramesh Chandra Lahoti, president, Bangalore Wholesale Food Grains & Pulses Merchants’ Association told Business Standard.

The state government's licence to Metro Cash & Carry India Pvt Ltd on January 18 allowed it to trade in the 112 notified agriculture commodities, including pulses and cereals, from both its outlets outside the APMC yard in Yeswantpur. The traders had objected to it arguing it was a “violation of the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) Act”. The Act stipulates that no private trader can sell notified commodities within a 25 km radius from the APMC yards in the state.

Confirming the cancellation of the licence, Director, Department of Agricultural Marketing, V B Patil said, “We have cancelled the order issued on January 18 to Metro Cash & Carry. However, the company can continue to trade in perishables such as fruits, vegetables and flowers.”

After the department of agricultural marketing did not cancel the licence issued to Metro, the traders met the chief minister last weekend and convinced him to do so.

“We will withdraw the bandh with effect from March 1 after informing all our 25 member associations about the cancellation order,” Lahoti said.

Officials of Metro offered no statement on the cancellation of their licence.

About 3,500 shops dealing in all the 112 notified agriculture commodities, including perishables like onions, potato and vegetables, had shut down their shops in the three main APMC market yards in Bangalore — Yeswantpur, Old Taragupet and New Taragupet.