Mr Piyush Goyal calls upon more buyers and sellers to join the GeM, which has proved to be a game-changer in government procurement; Fourth edition of the National Public Procurement Conclave inaugurated

 The Fourth edition of the National Public Procurement Conclave (NPPC), organized by Government e-Marketplace (GeM), in association with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) was inaugurated online by Mr Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce and Industry and Railways, to coincide with the anniversary of GeM Establishment Day. The theme of NPPC is “Technology enabled Government Procurement – Towards efficiency, transparency, and inclusiveness”.

Lauding the success of GeM in becoming a game changer in the Government procurement, Mr Goyal called upon more and more buyers and sellers to join the system. Expressing the confidence that GeM will be able to unlock the value and save money for the nation’s development, he said that it has helped in transparent, seamless, easy, efficient, and faster procurements. All the information is available at one place, and any outlier trying to manipulate the system can be easily identified. He said that the Government’s decision to ask the buyers to give interest for delayed payments in GeM is a significant step. At the same time, he also cautioned the unscrupulous sellers from pushing the poor-quality goods or charging exorbitant prices, as they will not only be blacklisted from the GeM portal but from the entire Government ecosystem.

Mr Piyush Goyal welcomed the offer from the CII to partner with GeM and expand the reach to the nook and corner of the country. He said that GeM has the advantage of being seamless, transparent, open, and efficient and technology-driven, and this will gain momentum if more and more buyers and sellers join the system.  More procurement orders will lead to more sellers joining it, leading to more competition, and availability of quality products at cheaper prices. “More the merrier”, said the Minister.

The Minister said that the Government has been making continuous efforts to reach out to all sections of the society, especially the marginalized ones, who were denied basic amenities for a long time. He said that the Government procurement is very large and has to be efficient. “Every penny saved is penny earned”, said the minister. The greater competition and efficiency help the Government save money, which is then used for the public good, and reach out to those who deserve this. Mr Goyal said that the Government has been bringing honesty and eliminating corruption. “Technology leads to Transparency which leads to Trust, which helps in Transformation of the country.  We have moved from Corruption to Clean Government which has raised the Confidence of people, and which is leading to greater Commerce within the country and internationally.”

The Minister said that as the television media’s success is measured by TRP ratings, the Success of GeM can be measured by Trust (Of people in government procurement), Reliability (In supply of quality products at low cost and timely manner) and Prosperity (of the nation and the people). He said that maximum efficiency comes from the minimum government, and e-process in procurement is a step in this direction.

The Minister announced that GeM and Indian railways are working earnestly to integrate the latter’s procurements with the former. He said that the railways presently spend about Rs 70,000 crore (US$ 9.93 billion) per annum on procurements and the integration of the system with the GeM will lead to saving of at least 10-15 per cent which is almost Rs 10,000 crore (US$ 1.42 billion). He said that besides savings of money, the integration will save efforts, manpower and bring in more efficiency and transparency in the system.

Mr Som Parkash, Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said that the Conclave provided an excellent opportunity to Buyers and Sellers to interact. He said Women Entrepreneurs, start-ups, Artisans, Weavers, Self-Help Groups and MSMEs will find such platforms very useful. He called for reduction of Government purchases from outside the Gem system.

Mr Talleen Kumar, CEO, GeM, said that GeM aims to enhance efficiency, transparency, inclusiveness in public procurement and provides the tools of Direct Procurement, e-Bidding, and Reverse Auction to facilitate buyers achieve the best value for their money. He said that GeM has evolved as an increasingly transparent, efficient, and inclusive platform, with MSMEs making up over 57 per cent of the cumulative Gross Merchandise Value on GeM. In order to provide an impetus to the Make in India initiative as part of the vision of “Aatmanirbhar Bharat”, and also to promote local products through the “Vocal for Local” initiative, the Government has made it mandatory for all sellers on GeM to list the Country of Origin while registering new products. Over the next couple of months, GeM shall be rolling out GeM 4.0 – which will be anchored in the Unified Procurement System.

The key features of this year’s online conclave include a detailed overview of the enhanced version of GeM – GeM 4.0, followed by virtual panel sessions on role of MSMEs, Start-ups, Women Entrepreneurs, Weavers and Artisans, Information Technology, Defense and Railways in Public Procurement. Some of the other highlights at NPPC 2020 include virtual B2B and B2G meetings between Govt buyers and sellers, training and technical sessions on GeM features and new developments, a virtual GeM stall to resolve queries on the spot and facilitate registration of sellers and buyers, special session for Services.

The Director General, CII Mr Chandrajit Banerjee also spoke on the occasion.

KVIC's Big Push to Khadi and Tourism in Arunachal Pradesh with the First Silk Training cum Production Center

 

The far-flung tribal village of Chullyu in Arunachal Pradesh will soon be bustling with spinning and weaving activities with Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) set to open the first of its kind Training cum Production Center of Silk in the state. Conceived just six months ago, the center will be launched in the first week of September. The KVIC has refurbished and converted a dilapidated school building into the training cum production center. The school building has been provided to KVIC by the education department of Arunachal Pradesh Government.

Machinery like handlooms, Charkha, Silk reeling machines and warping drums have already arrived, and installation of machines are in full swing. The first batch of 25 local artisans of Chullyu village has been selected to begin the training with.

The project was conceived in February this year during the visit of KVIC Chairman Mr Vinai Kumar Saxena to this tribal village Chullyu. Identifying a great potential of silk production and other activities of village industries in the village, Saxena immediately sanctioned setting up of training cum production center for the Eri Silk, which is traditionally worn by local tribals. The work, however, progressed at a slow pace due to COVID-19 lockdown.

Recently KVIC also distributed 250 honeybee boxes in Chullyu village which has rich flora for production of high-altitude honey. Located on the main highway just 30 km before the most popular tourist spot Ziro, Chullyu is a scenic village known for its eco-friendly ways of living. It is easily approachable by tourists which is an advantage for the local artisans.

“The training cum production center is the first of its kind facility in Arunachal Pradesh and a big boost to weaving activities in the entire region. Training of artisans and supporting the production of Eri Silk, which is indigenous to the North Eastern states, will create local employment and sustainable development in the region which is aligned with the Prime Minister’s vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat,” Saxena said. “KVIC will also create an exclusive page on its online portal to market their products,” he added.

The development assumes significance as the tribal population in Arunachal Pradesh, men and women alike, traditionally wear Eri Silk and Khadi Cotton clothes which carries a deep significance to their egalitarian tribal society. However, the people of the state must buy Silk from outside markets including those in Assam.

KVIC has also planned design intervention by engaging professional design institutes like NIFT Shillong, NID Jorhat and even local designers in Arunachal to develop new designs to suit the modern taste of tribal youths.

KVIC also aims to connect the center with the tourists visiting Ziro tourist spot and thus providing an assured market to the local artisans for their products. The production center will be equipped to cater to the market demand. For the initial period, KVIC will also provide raw material and expenditure on training and wages and the cost of developing the prototypes of new designs.

MoD's big push to Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative; Import embargo on 101 items beyond given timelines to boost indigenisation of defence production

 

Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi in his address to the Nation on May 12, 2020 had given a clarion call for a self-reliant India based on the five pillars, i.e., Economy, Infrastructure, System, Demography and Demand and announced a special economic package for Self-Reliant India named ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’. Taking cue from that evocation, the Department of Military Affairs (DMA), Ministry of Defence (MoD) has prepared a list of 101 items for which there would be an embargo on the import beyond the timeline indicated against them, as indicated in the attached Annexure.

This is a big step towards self-reliance in defence. It also offers a great opportunity to the Indian defence industry to rise to the occasion to manufacture the items in the negative list by using their own design and development capabilities or adopting the technologies designed and developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to meet the requirements of the Armed Forces in the coming years.

The list is prepared by MoD after several rounds of consultations with all stakeholders, including Army, Air Force, Navy, DRDO, Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs), Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) and private industry to assess current and future capabilities of the Indian industry for manufacturing various ammunition/weapons/platforms/equipment within India.

Almost 260 schemes of such items were contracted by the Tri-Services at an approximate cost of Rs 3.5 lakh crore (US$ 49.65 billion) between April 2015 and August 2020. With latest embargo on import of 101 items, it is estimated that contracts worth almost Rs 4 lakh crore (US$ 56.75 billion) will be placed upon the domestic industry within the next five to seven years. Of these, items worth almost Rs 1,30,000 crore (US$ 18.44 billion) each are anticipated for the Army and the Air Force while items worth almost Rs 1,40,000 crore (US$ 19.86 billion) are anticipated by the Navy over the same period.

The list of 101 embargoed items comprises of not just simple parts but also some high technology weapon systems like artillery guns, assault rifles, corvettes, sonar systems, transport aircrafts, light combat helicopters (LCHs), radars and many other items to fulfil the needs of our Defence Services. The list also includes, wheeled armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs) with indicative import embargo date of December 2021, of which the Army is expected to contract almost 200 at an approximate cost of over Rs 5,000 crore (US$ 709.32 million). Similarly, the Navy is likely to place demands for submarines with indicative import embargo date of December 2021, of which it expects to contract about six at an approximate cost of almost Rs 42,000 crore (US$ 5.96 billion). For the Air Force, it is decided to enlist the light combat aircraft LCA MK 1A with an indicative embargo date of December 2020. Of these, 123 are anticipated at an approximate cost of over Rs 85,000 crore (US$ 12.06 billion). Hence, there are highly complex platforms that are included in the list of 101 items, of which details of three examples are given above.

The embargo on imports is planned to be progressively implemented between 2020 to 2024. The aim behind promulgation of the list is to apprise the Indian defence industry about the anticipated requirements of the Armed Forces so that they are better prepared to realise the goal of indigenisation. The MoD has adopted many progressive measures to encourage and facilitate ‘Ease of Doing Business’ by the defence Production entities. All necessary steps would be taken to ensure that timelines for production of equipment as per the Negative Import List are met, which will include a co-ordinated mechanism for hand holding of the industry by the Defence Services.

More such equipment for import embargo would be identified progressively by the DMA in consultation with all stakeholders.

A due note of this will also be made in the Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) to ensure that no item in the negative list is processed for import in the future.

In another relevant step, the MoD has bifurcated the capital procurement budget for 2020-21 between domestic and foreign capital procurement routes. A separate budget head has been created with an outlay of nearly Rs 52,000 crore (US$ 7.38 billion) for domestic capital procurement in the current financial year.

IMPORT EMBARGO LIST OF DEFENCE WEAPONS/PLATFORMS

PM inaugurates Rashtriya Swachhata Kendra - an interactive experience centre on the Swachh Bharat Mission

 

Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi today inaugurated the Rashtriya Swachhata Kendra - an interactive experience centre on the Swachh Bharat Mission, at the Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti at Rajghat, New Delhi. A tribute to Mahatma Gandhi, the Rashtriya Swachhata Kendra (RSK) was first announced by the Prime Minister on 10th April 2017, on the centenary celebrations of Gandhiji's Champaran Satyagraha. Mr Gajendra Singh Shekhavat, Minister, Jal Shakti and Mr Rattan Lal Kataria, Minister of State, Jal Shakti were present on the occasion.

Tour of Rashtriya Swachhata Kendra

The RSK has a balanced mix of digital and outdoor installations tracking India’s transformation from having over 50 crore people defecating in the open in 2014 to becoming open defecation free in 2019. The Prime Minister took a tour of the three distinct sections of the RSK. He first experienced a unique 360° audio visual immersive show in Hall 1 which provides an overview of the Swachh Bharat journey. He then moved to Hall 2 which contains a series of interactive LED panels, hologram boxes, interactive games and much more on the SBM. The Prime Minister also saw the installations in the lawn adjacent to RSK which showcase three exhibits which are synonymous with the SBM - Mahatma Gandhi leading people to the Swachhata pledge, Rani Mistris of rural Jharkhand and children swachhagrahis who call themselves Vaanar Sena.

Interaction with school students

After taking a tour of the entire RSK, the Prime Minister briefly visited the RSK souvenir centre. He then interacted with 36 school students from Delhi, representing all States and Union Territories of India at the amphitheatre of the RSK, adhering to social distancing protocols. The children shared with the Prime Minister their experiences with swachhata activities at home and at school, and their impressions of the RSK. One of them also asked the Prime Minister what his favourite part of the RSK was, to which the Prime Minister replied that he most enjoyed the portion dedicated to the inspiration of the SBM, Mahatma Gandhi.

Address to the nation

After interacting with the children, the Prime Minister addressed the nation. The Prime Minister reminisced the journey of the Swachh Bharat Mission and dedicated the RSK as a permanent tribute to Mahatma Gandhi. He lauded the people of India for making swachhata a jan andolan and urged them to continue to do so in the future. He reiterated the importance of swachhata in our daily lives, especially during our fight against the coronavirus.

And on this occasion, the Prime Minister launched ‘Gandagi Mukt Bharat’, a special week long campaign for swachhata in the run up to Independence Day, during which each day till 15th  August will have special swachhata initiatives in urban and rural India to re-enforce the jan andolan for swachhata.

Visiting the Rashtriya Swachhata Kendra

The Rashtriya Swachhata Kendra will be open to the public from 9th August from 8 AM to 5 PM, in accordance with the prescribed guidelines for social distancing and hygiene. As the number of people who may visit the RSK at a given point in time will have to be limited, no tours will be organized for students in the short term. However, virtual tours of the RSK will also be organized till such time as physical tours are possible. The first such virtual tour will be organized on 13th August with Minister for Jal Shakti, Mr Gajendra Singh Shekhawat. For ticket bookings and more information on the RSK, one may log on to rsk.ddws.gov.in. 

PM launches financing facility of Rs 1 lakh crore under Agriculture Infrastructure Fund; Rs 17,000 crore transferred by PM to nearly 8.5 crore farmers under PM-KISAN through direct benefit transfer to Aadhaar linked bank accounts; Rs 1,000 crore sanctioned to over 2280 farmer societies under Agriculture Infrastructure Fund within 30 days of receiving Cabinet approval for the Central Sector Scheme

Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi today launched a new Central Sector Scheme of financing facility under the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund of Rs 1 lakh crore (US$ 14.19 billion). The scheme will support farmers, PACS, FPOs, Agri-entrepreneurs, etc. in building community farming assets and post-harvest agriculture infrastructure. These assets will enable farmers to get greater value for their produce as they will be able to store and sell at higher prices, reduce wastage, and increase processing and value addition.

Today, only 30 days after Cabinet formally approved the scheme, the first sanction of over Rs. 1000 Crore was made to over 2,280 farmer societies. The event was conducted through video conference and was attended by lakhs of farmers, FPOs, cooperatives, PACS, and citizens joining from across the country.

At the same event, the Prime Minister also released the sixth instalment under the PM-KISAN scheme of Rs 17,000 crore (US$ 2.41 billion) to nearly 8.5 crore farmers. The cash benefit was transferred directly to their Aadhaar verified bank accounts with the press of a button. With this transfer, the scheme has provided over 90,000 crore (US$ 12.77 billion) in the hands of more than 10 crore farmers since its launch on 01 December 2018.

Interaction with Primary Agriculture Credit Societies

Prime Minister interacted virtually with 3 Primary Agriculture Credit Societies from Karnataka, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh who are among the initial beneficiaries of the scheme. Prime Minister had an engaging discussion with the representatives of these societies to understand their current operations and how they plan to utilise the loan. The societies informed the Prime Minister about their plans to build go-downs, setup grading and sorting units which will help member farmers secure a higher price for their produce.

Address to the nation

Following his interaction with the Primary Agriculture Credit Societies, in his address to the nation, the Prime Minister expressed confidence in how farmers and the agriculture sector will benefit from the scheme. He said the scheme shall provide a financial boost to the farmers and agriculture sector and increase India’s ability to compete on the global stage.

Prime Minister reiterated that India has a huge opportunity to invest in post-harvest management solutions like warehousing, cold chain, and food processing, and build a global presence in areas such as organic and fortified foods. He also mentioned that this scheme provides a good opportunity for start-ups in agriculture to avail the benefits and scale their operations, thereby creating an ecosystem that reaches farmers in every corner of the country.

Prime Minister expressed his satisfaction with the pace of implementation of the PM-KISAN scheme. He also noted that the scale of the program is so large that the funds released today have reached more people than the entire population of several countries taken together. He also congratulated states for playing an important role in the implementation and assisting farmers through the entire process from registration all the way to disbursals.

The Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Mr Narendra Singh Tomar, was also present on the occasion.

Agriculture Infrastructure Fund

The Agriculture Infrastructure Fund is a medium - long term debt financing facility for investment in viable projects for post-harvest management infrastructure and community farming assets through interest subvention and credit guarantee. The duration of the scheme shall be from FY2020 to FY2029 (10 years). Under the scheme, Rs 1 lakh crore (US$ 14.19 billion) will be provided by banks and financial institutions as loans with interest subvention of 3 per cent per annum and credit guarantee coverage under CGTMSE scheme for loans up to Rs 2 crore (US$ 0.28 million). The beneficiaries will include farmers, PACS, Marketing Cooperative Societies, FPOs, SHGs, Joint Liability Groups (JLG), Multipurpose Cooperative Societies, Agri-entrepreneurs, Start-ups, and Central/State agency or Local Body sponsored Public-Private Partnership Projects.

PM-KISAN

The PM-KISAN scheme was launched in December 2018 to provide income support by way of a cash benefit to all landholding farmers (subject to certain exclusion criteria) to enable them to fulfil their agricultural requirements and support their families. Under the scheme, the financial benefit of Rs 6,000 (US$ 85.11)/- per year is provided to eligible beneficiary farmers in three equal instalments.

A new dawn for the agriculture sector

These steps are the latest in a series of reforms taken by the Government of India under the guidance of the Prime Minister. These measures will collectively herald a new dawn for the agriculture sector in India and show the government’s commitment to championing the cause of ensuring the welfare and sustainability of livelihoods for the farmers of India.

Electronics manufacturing in India to grow 30 per cent annually for next 5 years: IT Secretary

 The electronics manufacturing is expected to increase at an annual rate of 30 per cent over the next five years and clock Rs 11.5 lakh crore (US$ 163.14 billion) additional production during this period, said electronics and IT secretary Mr Ajay Prakash Sawhney.

The exports of the electronic products are also estimated to grow in the range of 40-50 per cent annually over the next five years, he added.

"Electronics manufacturing in India has been growing quite significantly. We have registered 23 per cent cumulative annual rate of growth over past five years. Now in this journey the growth is expected to be 30 per cent year on year for next five years," said Mr Sawhney at the Invest India Exclusive Investment Forum - Japan Edition.

He added that India has seen an increase in mobile manufacturing from 6 crore handsets five years ago to 33 crore at present, and meeting over 90 per cent of country's mobile phone requirements through domestic production.

"Last year we have seen spurt of 25 per cent. In next five years, growth in exports could be 40-50 per cent year on year at a bare minimum," Mr Sawhney said.

There are around 22 domestic and international firms, including iPhone maker Apple's contract manufacturers as well as Samsung, Lava, Dixon and so forth, that have lined up with proposals for mobile phones production worth Rs 11 lakh crore (US$ 156.05 billion) over the next five years.

Union Minister Mr Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “These proposals under the government's Rs 41,000 crore (US4 5.82 billion) production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for mobile phone manufacturing are expected to create around 12 lakh jobs, 3 lakh direct and 9 lakh indirect employment opportunities in the country”.

Mr Sawhney further added that Japanese companies have enormous expertise and market share in capital goods which are used in the factories that manufacture electronic goods, digital displays, semiconductors, and India is looking forward to their engagement in the domestic market.

"I would say India and Japan have a tremendous complimentary position, especially in the electronics sector. It is time for us to bring in more investment from Japan into India, more technologies into India," Mr Sawhney said.

Jubilant FoodWorks enters FMCG space; sets up direct competition with HUL, Nestle

Jubilant FoodWorks Ltd, which operates Domino's Pizza and Dunkin' Donuts outlets in India, announced its entry in FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) segment with a range of ready-to-cook sauces, gravies and pastes.

It has stepped into the Rs 500 crore (US$ 70.93 million) ready-to-cook condiments space, setting up direct competition with packaged foods makers including Nestle, Hindustan Unilever and Dr Oetker.

It has launched a range of sauces and pastes through its new brand 'ChefBoss' that will initially be available for consumers across e-commerce portals.

JFL senior VP (new business) Mr Vikran Sabherwal said, “Demand for ready-to-cook food products has been increasing over the last few years on account of busier lifestyles of consumers and their desire to explore different cuisines at home. During COVID we have seen an acceleration of this trend and therefore an exponential growth in demand for ready to cook products.”

The sale of these products will start soon with Amazon (National), Flipkart Supermart (NCR, Mumbai, and Bengaluru) and Milkbasket (NCR).

The company also plans to expand product availability by adding more e-commerce platforms as well as retailing through supermarkets and hypermarkets in the near future.

Mr Shyam S Bhartia, chairman, and Mr Hari S Bhartia, co-chairman, Jubilant FoodWorks, said, "We are delighted to enter the Indian FMCG segment with 'ChefBoss'. This brand is based on our sound understanding of the Indian consumers' taste preferences and our commitment to provide the best quality products. Our research suggests that consumers now, more than ever before, are looking to explore and add new dishes to their cooking. We believe ready to cook products that are quick and easy to make, are the right solution to aid consumers in the endeavour to broaden their culinary expertise."

Indian Railways to introduce 'Kisan Rail', a special Parcel Train from Devlali (Maharashtra) to Danapur (Bihar) tomorrow i.e. August 07, 2020 on weekly basis

 

In the Union Budget 2020-21, Minister of Finance had made an announcement ‘to build a seamless national cold supply chain for perishables, inclusive of milk, meat, and fish’. It was also stated that the Indian Railways will set up a KISAN RAIL.

As announced in the current year’s Union Budget by Finance Minister, Indian Railways is introducing first “Kisan Rail” from Devlali to Danapur tomorrow on 07/08/2020 at 11:00 hrs from Devlali. The train will be flagged off via video conferencing by Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Rural Development and Panchyati Raj, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar and Minister of Railways and Commerce and Industry, Shri Piyush Goyal. The event shall be attended by other dignitaries from Maharashtra. The train will run on weekly basis with initial composition of 10 +1 VPs. The train will reach Danapur at 18:45 hrs. on next day covering the journey of 1519 kms. in 31:45 hrs.

The train will provide seamless supply chain of Perishable produce. This train is a step towards realizing the goal of doubling farmers’ incomes by 2022. Indian Railways aims to help double farmers’ income with the launch of Kisan Rail. This train will help in bringing perishable agricultural products like vegetables, fruits to the market in a short period of time. The train with frozen containers is expected to build a seamless national cold supply chain for perishables, inclusive of fish, meat, and milk.

Over Central Railway, Bhusawal Division is primarily an Agro based division. Nasik and surrounding region produce huge quantity of fresh vegetables, fruits, flowers, other perishables, onions and other agro products. These perishables are mainly transported to areas around Patna, Prayagraj, Katni, Satna etc.

This train has been provided scheduled halts at Nasik Road, Manmad, Jalgaon, Bhusaval, Burhanpur, Khandwa, Itarsi, Jabalpur, Satna, Katni, Manikpur, Prayagraj Chheoki, Pt. Deendayal Upadhyay Nagar and Buxar.

The chargeable rates for major pair of stations are as under:

Freight per Tonne:

Nasik Road/Devlali to Danapur	Rs 4001	US$ 56.75
Manmad to Danapur	Rs 3849	US$ 54.60
Jalgaon to Danapur	Rs 3513	US$ 49.83
Bhusawal to Danapur	Rs 3459	US$ 49.07
Burhanpur to Danapur	Rs 3323	US$ 47.14
Khandwa to Danapur	Rs 3148	US$ 44.65

Indian Railways have earlier run single commodity special trains like Banana Specials etc. But this will be the first ever multi commodity trains and will carry fruits like Pomegranate, Banana, Grapes etc and vegetables like Capsicum, Cauliflower, Drumsticks, Cabbage, Onion, Chillies etc. Aggressive marketing is being done with local farmers, loaders, APMC and individuals. Demand is being aggregated. It is expected that the train will be patronised well and will be a great help to the farmers, as freight of this train will be charged as per parcel tariff of normal train (P Scale). 

Record 24016 MT Fertiliser Production during July 2020 in FACT

 The Fertilizers and Chemicals Travancore Limited (FACT), a PSU under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers is on a Turnaround path, breaking records in Production and Sales during the year.

As per a Statement of FACT, company Achieved highest Monthly ‘Ammonium Sulphate’ production during July 2020 (24016 MT), surpassing previous best of 23811 MT in January 2020.

 FACT has been manufacturing two fertilizer products NP 20:20:0:13 (Factamfos) and Ammonium Sulphate, mainly for the South Indian market.

Company could optimize its fertilizer production by implementing suitable adaptations in its operation schedule, raw material planning, logistics and product despatch, for safe operation during COVID times.

Ministry of Agriculture funding start-ups under the innovation and agripreneurship component of Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana in 2020-21

The Union Government accords very high priority to the agriculture sector. In order to contribute directly and indirectly to enhancing the income of farmers by providing opportunities to them and to provide employment to youth, start-ups are being encouraged. A component, Innovation and Agri-entrepreneurship Development programme has been launched under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana in order to promote innovation and agripreneurship by providing financial support and nurturing the incubation ecosystem. These start-ups are in various categories such as agro-processing, artificial intelligence, digital agriculture, farm mechanisation, waste to wealth, dairy, fisheries etc.

DAC&FW has selected 5 Knowledge Partners (KPs) as Centres of Excellence.  These are -

• National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE), Hyderabad,
• National Institute of Agricultural Marketing (NIAM) Jaipur,
• Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) Pusa, New Delhi,
• University of Agriculture Science, Dharwad, Karnataka and
• Assam Agriculture University, Jorhat, Assam

24 RKVY-RAFTAAR Agribusiness Incubators (R-ABIs) from across the country have also been appointed. 

The following are the components of this scheme:

• Agripreneurship Orientation - 2 months duration with a monthly stipend of Rs 10,000 (US$ 141.86)/- per month.  Mentorship is provided on financial, technical, IP issues etc.
• Seed Stage Funding of R-ABI Incubatees – Funding upto Rs 25 lakh (US$ 35,466.02) (85 per cent grant & 15 per cent contribution from the incubatee).
• Idea/Pre-Seed Stage Funding of Agripreneurs – Funding up to Rs 5 lakh (US$ 7,093.20) (90 per cent grant and 10 per cent contribution from the incubatee).

The institutes issue calls for application for their programmes and based on a rigorous process of selection through various stages and a training of two months, the final list of start-ups that are to be funded through grants-in-aid are finalised. Training on technical, finance, intellectual property, statutory compliance issues etc. is provided. Mentoring of start-ups through monitoring of milestones and timelines is part of the programme.

Some start-ups that are being incubated offer the following solutions -

• Activx Animal Health Technologies branded as Vetzz, is a network of Veterinary Doctors which provides immediate connect with customers i.e. animal owners via real time tele consultation and doorstep visits.
• SNL Innovations -  InnoFarms provides fruit and vegetable pulp processed directly at the farm using an in-house developed Monoblock fruit processing platform (on-wheels) to convert fruits to pulp with shelf life of up to 1 year with complete traceability from farm to customer.
• EF Polymer developed an Eco-Friendly Water Retention Polymer with an aim to solve the water scarcity crisis for farmers. This start-up made a super absorbent polymer designed to absorb water in the soil, retain it for a long time, and supply to the crops as required.
• Among the start-ups that have been selected are several start-ups led by women such as A2P Energy Solution that uses AI to track waste biomass and then works with farmers to collect it. On one side it generates additional income for farmers and on the other side A2P converts the collected biomass into Next Gen biofuels like energy pellets, green coal, and bio oil.
• Kyari Innovations is working on mitigating human wildlife conflict pan India and internationally. They have created an innovative product called ANIDERS- Animal Intrusion Detection and Repellent System. This device works like a mechanized scarecrow that can protect farmlands from animal intrusions.
• Agsmartic Technologies, has a vision to improve crop yield by precise irrigation and disease management though a data driven approach by using AI, IoT and computer vision. Their product Croplytics® is a combination of hardware and software solution that integrates ground sensor data and satellite imagery to translate data into actionable information for creating a precise model for irrigation.

Apart from the above mentioned 6 start-ups, there are many more with innovative solutions to improve the farming eco system and augment farm household incomes.

In all, a total of 346 start-ups in the agriculture and allied sectors are being funded for a sum of Rs 3671.75 lakh (US$ 5.21 million) in this phase. This fund will be released in instalments. These start-ups were trained for two months at 29 agribusiness incubation centres (KPs and RABIs) spread across India. These start-ups will lead to employment to youth. Besides, they, directly and indirectly, will contribute to enhancing the income of farmers by providing opportunities to them.

For more details on Agri-entrepreneurship, RKVY website: https://rkvy.nic.in may be visited.