HFCL Infotel to provide 'mandi' rates to subscribers

After Thomson Reuters’s mobile information service for farmers in Punjab, HFCL Infotel Limited has launched a voice-based value added service namely 'Mandi Bhav' for the farmers in the state. The service will allow subscribers to get the rates of commodities such as vegetables, pulses, grains or fruits from markets all across Punjab.

As Punjab has the highest tele-density of nearly 47 per cent compared to the national average of 20 per cent, the service launched by Thomson Reuters and HFCL Infotel Ltd is going to be a win-win situation for the farmers as well as the service providers. Punjab has a total GSM subscriber base of about 10 million as of November 2008 and over 1 million CDMA subscriber base besides landline connections.

Speaking to Business Standard, HFCL Infotel Ltd GM-marketing Vijay Bainsla said, "The voice-based service will empower the subscribers in Punjab to know the latest mandi rates by simply dialling 57157 from their connect landlines and ping mobile phones (CDMA service by HFCL Infotel) and after following the instructions the subscriber can have access to real-time commodity rates from the different mandis of Punjab."

He added that the service will empower the farmers to find out the mandis where the rates are the best and accordingly they can sell their produce.

At present HFCL Infotel covers 12 major mandis of the state including Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Patiala, Moga, Faridkot, Kapurthala etc. and has plans to cover at least 40 top mandis of the region depending upon the response.