Flower power is finally set to cast its magic on Noida township. With all 74 stalls being auctioned and allotted in the first phase itself, the Uttar Pradesh Mandi Parishad is now confronted with another task: getting the next tranche of 150 shops constructed due to heavy demand from those who have not been fortunate enough to bag a bid in the first phase.
Talking to FE, director UP Mandi Parishad Rajesh Singh says that the response was phenomenal and unexpected. ?We were fortunate to get all the shops auctioned in the first phase itself. Now, it?s just a matter of time for the mart to get functional. The state government has to issue a mandatory notification for this and once that is done, all the license holders can start transaction of flowers,? he says.
The UP Mandi Parishad, had in September, invited bidders to partner in the growth of floriculture marketing through its state-of-the-art international flower auction centre-cum-integrated wholesaler market at Sector 88 in Noida. And much to its surprise, there were record applicants for the same. The mart, which will act as a platform for flower growers as well as wholesellers, will try to tap into the immense potential that flower business holds, especially for distributors, exporters, and people associated with flowers such as floral designers, event planners, retail florists as well as interior decorators.
Though flower marts exist in Bangalore and Mumbai, the Noida flower mart is said to be the biggest among them all and would be equipped with the state-of-the-art ?Dutch Auction Clock? system and will also have three cold storages and a capacity of preserving around 4 lakh produce.
It may be mentioned that at present, India?s share in the global flower market is a miniscule 2%, thanks to the lack of proper infrastructure to support such a business. ?India greatly suffers due to logistical bottlenecks and inadequate post-harvest infrastructure. Since flowers are a perishable item, the biggest problem that flower traders face is the lack of proper cold storage and display facilities. Transportation, too, from the fields to flower marts via trains and aircraft, is done in a very unprofessional manner, due to which there is massive loss. In order to increase the shelf life of flowers, the Noida flower mart has been equipped with all the backward linkages like providing refrigerated vans and water trolleys to transport the flowers from the stations or airports in fresher environs and store them at appropriate temperatures so that their natural fragility is maintained rather than exposing them to the extreme heat and monsoons of Delhi,? adds Singh.
Floriculturists from all over the country, especially Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir have shown a keen interest for the mart.
According to experts in the field of floriculture, though India?s share in the global flower market is a paltry 2% at present, the existence of large unexploited export potential is likely to serve as a growth engine for the sector. The fact that the flower industry in Delhi alone accounts for business worth over Rs100 crore annually, speaks volumes about the potential of the industry, they add.