Agriculture dept plans to use land to build farm produce shopping mall
Maharashtra's Agriculture department is planning to construct special shopping malls in different parts of the state where farmers can sell their produce directly to consumers. The malls are set to be built on a Public Private Partnership (PPP) model and will be on land parcels owned by the Agriculture department. The pilot project is likely to be set up soon.
'One of the main factors affecting the farmers is the right price for their produce. Some serious efforts need to be taken in this regard and this is one of the ideas that we are working on,' said Maharashtra's Agriculture minister Manikrao Kokate.
The Agriculture department has over 35,000 acres of land across the state. It also owns land parcels in different cities which are either lying vacant or being encroached upon. Cities like Pune, Solapur, Nasik, Nagpur have such land parcels which are lying unused for years. These plots are being planned to be used for the purpose of building a special shopping mall in partnership with investors and private players using the PPP model.
As per the plan, 50 percent of the mall will be given to the private players for commercial use where shops and showrooms of their choice can be set up. This area may be given on a 30-40 years lease basis to the private player. The remaining 50 percent area will be given to set up shops only to farmer bodies, self help groups, farm producers' companies and even individual farmers. 'Nobody other than those related to farmers will be allowed to set up shops in that 50 percent part,' said Kokate.
The department is planning to undertake a pilot project soon whereby one such shopping mall will be built in each of the administrative divisions of the state. Based on the success of the experiment, a big city in each district will house such a mall.
'The land belonging to the Agriculture department has been lying vacant and in some cases encroachment too has been observed, especially in bigger cities in the state. The move is to put this land into use and convert it into a model which will ensure steady financial earning to farmers,' said Kokate.
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