With a view to supplying vegetables to the public at rates lesser than the market price, Tamil Nadu Co-operative Marketing Federation (Tanfed ) on Tuesday entered into an agreement with National Spot Exchange Limited (NSEL) to purchase potato, onion and ginger online.
The move will benefit a large number of consumers as these products will be supplied to 23 farm fresh vegetable outlets run by Triplicane Urban Co-operative Society (TUCS) in Chennai at cost price. As per the proposal, ginger will be procured from Kerala, onions from Nasik and potatoes from Agra. The initial order consists of 7-8 tonnes of onion for two days, 10 tonnes of potato for three days and 17 tonnes of ginger for two days.
Talking to The Hindu , Tanfed Additional Registrar/Administrator V. Nandakumari said it would be a three-month pact initially and reviewed later. Orders would be placed on behalf of cooperative societies and payments made by the federation. Tanfed was following the Safal Co-operative Federation’s example of how it stepped in to control the prices of onion in New Delhi few years ago.
“We sent a group of officers to Nasik to procure onions. The onions were available in different grades and at varying prices. When we made the calculation, it cost us Rs. 22 a kg. So, we decided to use the e-trading platform. Today, we have placed orders for graded onions for Rs. 19.5 a kg against the wholesale price of Rs. 22-23 a kg in Koyambedu wholesale market. Potato will be supplied at Rs. 14.85 a kg (Rs.16),” she said.
Rs.50-lakh mark
Since the inauguration, the sale of vegetables in the outlets has crossed the Rs.50-lakh mark with quantity touching 180 tonnes. Daily sales in these outlets have increased from 15,000 kg to 20,000 kg, said a Civil Supplies Department official.
