Surat, 8 June 2013

Gujarat Chief Minister Shri Narendra Modi will inaugurate Gujarat’s first agro mall in Surat on June 12. The one-stop agro retail mall, the Rs 350 crore state-of-the-art wholesale outlet built by Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) is located at Sahara Darwaja.

According to APMC and Gujarat State Agriculture Marketing Board (GSAMB) office-bearers the agro mall will provide a unique shopping experience to the residents looking for a variety of vegetables, fruits, spices, grains, grocery along with flowers directly plucked from the farmlands of south Gujarat, neighboring states and even imported from abroad at wholesale price.

All green vegetables and fruits displayed in racks inside the mall will provide vital information on health benefits and other advantages.Facilities like testing and certification laboratory, central electronic auction system, online spot commodity trading platform, ripening chamber and cold storage, agriculture training centre for farmers, banking facilities and mechanized material handling system will be set up inside the market.

In the second phase of the market project, the APMC plans to develop facilities like setting up a five-star hotel for foreign traders and visitors, rest rooms for farmers, commercial office space for dealers, collection centre for farmers in the villages and towns in south Gujarat, facilities like grading cleaning, packaging and weighing, banking facility, information kiosks, agri-clinic and extension services and total banking support.

“Our aim is to work as a bridge between agro producers and the consumer. Along with it we want this facility to serve a one-stop shop.Until people see this facility, the concept of a mega mall is not going to sink in. We do need mega malls in cities but not through Foreign Direct Investment but by the efforts of farmers themselves. We are going to provide the first example of this,” Raman Jani(65) who is the man behind this idea of agro-mall said.

-Employment to 30-35 youths
-110 shops
-4 banks
-Cold storage
-Farmers training centre
-Packaging institute
-Electronics auction hall
-Communication centre for exporters
-Star category 192-romm hotel
-Two storey parking
-60 offices