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Guru Committee pegs agri-marketing revamp at Rs 2,600 billion

The S L Guru Expert Committee on 'Strengthening and Developing of Agricultural Marketing' has recommended a complete revamp of the present marketing structure which, it said, would require funds of over Rs 2,600 billion.

The revamping would include repeal of the Essential Commodities Act allowing private sector to set up 50 mega agri-markets.

The committee which presented its final report to the Union Agriculture Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday, said: "The present agricultural marketing system is restrictive owing to a large number of legislations enforced by the states and the Centre."

Highlighting the inadequacies in the marketing infrastructure, the expert committee has estimated requirement of funds of Rs 2,687.42 billion.

It has suggested involvement of the private sector to the tune of Rs 1,364.30 billion, Rs 865.01 billion from the Centre and Rs 458.11 billion from the state sector.

It has recommended inclusion of more commodities under futures trading, linkages of forward and linkage markets and introduction of an electronic warehousing system.

The committee said large funds would be required for introducing irradiation system on semi-perishables, providing rural connectivity, developing markets at all levels, storage, reefer vans, cleaning, grading, value addition centres and processing.

It also highlighted the need to evolve agricultural marketing credit policy to meet the growing needs of funds for agricultural marketing operations.

Inter-ministerial group to examine agri-marketing issues

The government on Friday announced setting up of an inter-ministerial group to examine suggestions made by the S L Guru expert committee regarding changes in the present legislations and marketing structure relating to agriculture.

"We have decided to set up an inter-ministerial group under the chairmanship of additional secretary R C A Jain to examine the expert group's final report on all issues pertaining to the legal and marketing aspects," Agriculture Minister Nitish Kumar, said at the presentation of the final report.

Accepting the report, Kumar said the inter-ministerial committee which would include officials of commerce, food and public distribution ministries will submit its final report within the next three months.

"Since the expert group report has a ten-year perspective, we will consider the suggestions made by the report in the light of the schemes for the Tenth Five-Year Plan period," he said.

Kumar said that the issue was important as presently only 15 per cent of the marketable surplus had a marketing network.

"After the inter-ministerial committee submits its report, we will take the necessary recourse of suggesting our proposal to the Cabinet and then to Parliament and likewise to the Planning Commission, he said.

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