The Indian government has cleared Rs 200 crore for setting up an online agriculture market place and will integrate 585 wholesale mandis across India to giver farmers better access to market prices for the produce. The portal will be set up by the Central Sector Scheme for Promotion of National Agricultural Market got its funding through the Agri-Tech Infrastructure Fund (ATIF) and was cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA). 585 regulated markets across the country will be integrated with the common e-platform to provide farmers and traders with access to opportunities for purchase/ sale of agri-commodities at optimal prices in a transparent manner across the country. The press relase also added that private mandis will also be allowed access to the e-platform for price discovery but however they will not be supported with any funds for equipment / infrastructure. The Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC) will be the lead agency t develop the national e-market by the ministry of agriculture. The SFAC will implement the e-platform in three phases during 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18. The Department of Agriculture and Cooperation will also give a one time grant with a ceiling of Rs 30 lakh per mandi for setting up equipment and infrastructure to connect with the e-market platform. Other government marketplaces - In August last year, the National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) launched a B2C e-commerce portal called msmeshopping.com, that aims to help Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country sell their products online. The site is being positioned as a low-cost marketing platform for MSMEs…
