The Haryana State Agricultural Marketing Board (HSAMB) has decided to set up air-conditioned agro malls in Panipat, Karnal and Gurgaon at an estimated cost of Rs 97 crore as part of its drive to provide modern facilities to farmers and consumers as well.
Stating this here today, Haryana Agriculture Minister Harmohinder Singh Chatha said one such agro mall was under construction at Panchkula. These malls will provide excellent marketing facilities to the fruit and vegetable growers as well as traders within the state.
An apple market is also being set up in Sector 20 of Panchkula, which will de-congest the Chandigarh market, besides increasing the income of the market committee of Panchkula, said Chatha, adding that agri-business knowledge centres were also being set up in every market for providing market/production related information to the farmers.
The buildings of such centres at Hisar, Sirsa and Dabwali had already been completed and the construction work of the buildings at Rohtak, Karnal, Ambala, Kurukshetra and Jhajjar was also underway.
He pointed out that HSAMB was all set to provide state-of-the-art facilities in all the existing vegetable mandis in the State under National Horticulture Mission (NHM).
In the first phase, cold chain facilities with cool chambers, ripening chambers, grading, sorting and packaging facilities would be provided at 11 stations in the State viz. at Panchkula, Panipat, Hisar, Narnaul, Rohtak, Karnal, Gurgaon, Sirsa, Shahbad, Jhajjar and Sonipat with an estimated cost of Rs.71 crore. Expenditure of Rs.24.50 crore had already been incurred on these facilities, he added.
Chatha said that under the second phase of the Mission, mega projects, such as - a terminal market for fruit and vegetables at Ganaur with an estimated cost of Rs.1500 crore, a modern fruit and vegetable market at Nuh with an estimated cost of Rs.9.5 crore, collection centres at 100 stations with an estimated cost of Rs.300 crore, pack house and multi-utility cold storage at various stations with an estimated cost of Rs.55 crore would be set up.
