21 wholesale mandis to be integrated from April 14

Bhopal, Kota and Sirsa are among the 21 major wholesale markets that will be integrated electronically by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 14 as the National Agriculture Market (NAM).

The NAM is a unified market where farm goods will be sold without any mandi tax. If completed successfully, it could moderate inflation and do away with the ill-effects of the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) Act.

Officials said the 21 mandis that had been selected were significant trading platforms for one or more commodities. Bhopal deals in black chana, mustard is traded in Sirsa, wheat in Karnal, and castor seed in Pattan.

India has 2,477 principal mandis and 4,843 sub-markets set up by the APMCs. With Rs 200 crore to be spent over three years, the plan is to link 585 major mandis in the first phase of the NAM over the next three years.

Mandis that want to participate in the electronic platform need to put in place e-auction and offer a single licence valid across the state and a single point levy of the market fee.

A major objective of the NAM is to kill price differentials across the country to moderate food inflation.

The integration could also curb malpractices as APMCs, through which state governments exercise control over wholesale markets. APMCs were established to provide an organised marketplace to farmers for better price discovery. The management of most APMCs is in the hands of political parties which enjoy a cosy relationship with commission agents.

SPRUCING UP

• Markets to be integrated electronically by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as part of National Agriculture Market (NAM)
   
• The 21 mandis are located in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Telengana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.
   
• A major objective of the common market is to iron out the price differentials by curbing the tendency to hoard, thus curbing food inflation
   
• With Rs 200 crore to be spent over three years, the plan is to link 585 major mandis in the first phase of the NAM over the next three years