The stone for the unique project was laid by Karnataka Chief Minister SM Krishna in the presence of his colleagues and Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) chairman V Kurien, among others, according to an NDDB press release issued here. Speaking on the occasion, he said the alternative auction-based market sought to free the farmers' dependence on credit from middlemen and give them an incentive for improving quality and productivity.

NDDB chairman Amrita Patel, also present on the occasion, said the project envisaged that the entire farmer-to-consumer chain became more efficient with a view to providing improved technology to small and poor farmers to increase their income.

The project is an outcome of an MoU signed between NDDB and government of Karnataka last year, after NDDB completed a detailed feasibility study.

The Safal F&V Auction Market would comprise a central auction facility with 100 wholesale shops, a 10,000 tonne capacity cold storage for bulk produces like potato and a processing unit for fruits and vegetables. It would be initially managed by NDDB, to be gradually handed over to farmers' associations, contributing their own share capital and becoming partners in the project.

The backward linkage would be through 42 collection centres, to be set up in the farm produce growing areas. The forward linkage would be through 8 to 10 cash-and-carry grocery stores to be constructed at strategic locations in the city, in addition to four such stores at the auction market itself.