Soon, book Jet Airways tickets at fair price shops

Soon, you can book tickets of Jet Airways at fair price shops in Gujarat. Officials said the Gujarat government will begin negotiations with the airline as soon as the Jet management shows interest in the state government's proposal.

The idea of selling air tickets from fair price shops was conceived as part of revitalising the concept of such shops and modernising about 15,000 fair price shops in the state to make them more competitive. It is planning to convert it into a full-fledged consumer shop.

SK Nanda, the secretary of the state's Food and Supply Department, told Business Standard, "If all goes well, one would be able to book airline tickets at fair price shops in urban areas. For this, we have approached Jet Airways and offered them this proposal. We have already submitted the proposal to the airline's regional management, which would later be forwarded to their central management."

While refusing to divulge more details, Nanda added that the tickets can be booked through telephones.

The state government has also approached about 20 multinational companies (MNCs), including Hindustan Lever and Amul, to sell their products from these fair price shops.

The Gujarat government has also sought suggestions from companies on how to revitalise the image of fair price shops.

Government sources said the airline is already considering the proposal and negotiations are likely to begin soon.

"The STD facility has been made compulsory in these shops. They can have landlines of BSNL, Hutch, Idea or Airtel, but having the facility is a must. They are also selling the cell phone recharge coupons from the shops," Nanda said.

The scheme aims to make the fair price shops competitive to face the future boom in the retail sector.

"We want to convert these shops into wholesome consumer shops where one can buy soaps, dairy products, fertilisers and many more things. Earlier, these shops were selling only grains and kerosene. Our aim is to modernise them and revitalise the concept of the fair price shops so that it can withstand the retail boom. We have tied up with State Bank of India and Dena Bank to give them loans to modernise the shops."

Talking about the current status of the scheme he said that 700 of the 15,000 fair price shops have been modernised and are selling product of MNCs with a legal commission. Another 1000 will be modernised by March 2007.