Haryana state agricultural marketing board has got a mixed response for its hi-tech vegetable and fruit management facilities at the commodity hubs-cum-wholesale markets in five cities, and will lease out these facilities here in about a month.
Under the National Horticulture Mission, the board is installing pre-coolers, cold stores, ripening chambers and packing houses at 11 cities in the state. These are Gurgaon, Sonepat, Panipat, Abubshahar, Panchkula, Hisar, Narnaul, Rohtak, Karnal, Shahbad and Jhajjar. In addition, commodity hubs with attached collection centers are being developed at Yamuna Nagar, Faridabad, Kurukshetra, Jind, Ambala, Bhiwani, Sirsa and other major cities of the state.
For five cities, the board has received offers for its hi-tech vegetable and fruit management facilities. These cities are Gurgaon, Faridabad, Panchkula, Shahbad and Jind. The Board is examining these offers and will lease out the facilities accordingly.
Other states where these facilities will be ready in about a month are Panipat, Hisar, Narnaul and Karnal. Board officials say no offers have been received for these cities yet, so the tenders will be issued again. There is some delay in setting up these facilities at Jhajjar and Sonepat. While the management facilities at Jhajjar will be completed in about four months, the facilities at Sonepat will be completed in six months approximately, say officials of the engineering wing of the board.
The two cities where some of the facilities were made operational last year are Abubshahar and Rohtak. In Abubshahar, the board made the electronic grading line for kinnows operational about a year ago. In Rohtak, the ripening chamber for bananas was leased out some months ago.
The commodity hubs where facilities have been installed for a particular fruit or vegetable are are Yamuna Nagar, Karnal and Abubshahar. At Yamuna Nagar, the board has set up an electronic grading line for mangoes, since this area specialises in the fruit’s production. At Karnal, an electronic grading line has been set up for tomatoes. The electronic grading lines at Yamuna Nagar and Karnal are likely to be made operational in a few months.
According to board officials, the project is being set up in two phases. In the first phase, the commodity hubs will be set up and be made operational. The total outlay for the first phase is Rs 67.31 crore, under which a subsidy of Rs 16.52 crore has been given by the Centre. In the second phase, the terminal market will be set up at Gannaur near Sonepat. The outlay of the second phase is Rs 545 crore. This is a highly-ambitious project which is still under the planning stage.