CHENNAI: Three Terminal Market Complexes (TMCs) for perishable items will be set up each in Coimbatore, Madurai and Chennai regions, said Atul Anand, Commissioner, Tamil Nadu Agricultural Marketing and Agri-business, on Monday.

Addressing members of the Confederation of Indian Industry at a roundtable on ‘Doing business: opportunities and challenges,’ he said that the Centre had given in-principle approval for the Rs.111.50 crore Perundurai project in the Coimbatore region and SIPCOT offered 40 acres on lease.

According to him, the department decided to set up TMC in Perundurai instead of Coimbatore as it was in the centre of command area and the land was offered at a reasonable cost.

The department will accept bids for the Perundurai TMC till February 4.Talking to The Hindu, he said “150 uzhavar sandhais are functioning in the State and it is proposed to set up 25 more soon.”

Marketing network

In his special address, P.K. Swain, Director (Marketing), Ministry of Agriculture said that in the first phase approval was accorded to four states – Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Orissa and Bihar – to set up the TMCs and they were working on the second phase.

Secondary cities

K.P.T. Ganesan, president, Tamil Nadu State Agricultural Marketing Board, urged the Centre to allocate certain percentage of its funds to set up food processing facilities in the State and said that to decongest secondary cities such as Coimbatore and Tiruchi, central markets would be shifted to a nearby place.

Courtesy - Hindu