ITC unveils Choupal Sagar expansion plan

Cigarettes-to-hotels major ITC Ltd plans to open at least 30-40 Choupal Sagars this year. Choupal Sagars are the company's rural malls, being opened as part of its e-choupal initiative.

Each mall will require an investment of Rs 5 crore and the company plans to spend about Rs 200 crore on the expansion. Most of these malls are likely to come up in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh as these states are ITC's major procurement centres.

At present, the company has 12 Choupal Sagars. The first Choupal Sagar was opened in Madhya Pradesh in 2004. Chopual Sagars offer everything needed by a farmer "" from clothes to electrical goods, fertiliser, pesticides and even tractors. Farmers can also sell their goods there.

According to a source within the company, Choupal Sagars "are doing well. Each mall gives us a turnover of over Rs 3 crore per annum."

One Choupal Sagar will be opened for every 30-40 e-choupals.

E-choupals are kiosks through which ITC provides information and customised knowledge to farmers, helping them improve quality and get a better price for their produce.

Through the e-choupals, the company has created a direct marketing channel, reducing transaction costs and making logistics efficient.

The e-choupal network reaches out to over 3.5 million farmers in over 36,000 villages.