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ITC Ltd intends to be the Wal Mart of India with its e-choupal system merging as the lowest-cost fulfilment superhighway which will yield benefits in the longer term, establishing the basis of generating value by servicing potential markets of tomorrow, ITC Chairman Y C Deveshwar told shareholders at the company's annual general meeting on Friday.
Wal-Mart is the world's biggest company and also the world's biggest retailer based in Arkansas, United States.
Speaking to the media later in the evening, Deveshwar said, "Value creation in this building lies not in buildings or things like that but in delivering what the market needs. The e-choupal network will serve areas where nearly 70 per cent of the country's population resides and this is the most cost effective way of reaching out to them, even in villages with populations of less than 5000 people where most businesses never venture."
The company has already engaged in executing several proof-of concept pilots in various products and services like agri-inputs and insurance that could be marketed in rural India using the e-choupal network.
"ITC is delivering information on markets and knowledge about water harvesting as well as social forestry to farmers. The benefit for farmers who put the information to use is that the company buys forest products, and other types of produce from the area of operation of the e-choupal," Deveshwar added.
The network has contributed to sourcing strengths of ITC for its agri-business operations as well as exports of farm produce.
The flow of products back through e-choupal network to farmers had also started with items like salt and edible oil already being marketed.
With ITC buying aqua products in West Bengal, a rollout of the e-choupal system in the state in a few months would be the next step, Deveshwar indicated.
"E-choupal has woven our business interests with social development, by delivering benefits to ITC's sourcing activities and value to the farmer through superior information and access to markets," he added.