E-Auction in Tea, Chilli And Tobacco Soon

Source from:  24 Aug, 2007, economictimes.indiatimes.com 08/24/2007

Soon, e-auction will be introduced in tea, chilli and tobacco. Inaugurating the country's first e-auction in cardamom at Bodinaikkanur on Thursday, Union minister of state for commerce Jairam Ramesh said e-auction in tea will begin in September. The Spices Board will take care of the e-auction in chilli, he said. He said e-auction in cardamom would help in stabilising prices and improve the financial conditions of farmers. The present system of payment to the farmers on 21st day by the auction centres will be changed to payment in 14 days, for which auction rules will be amended by the Spices Board. All farmers will also be given identity cards, he said. The e-auction centre in Bodinaikkanur will be a standalone system with a local area networking of auction centres. The Spices Board will extend the e-auction facility to the other existing auction centres in Kerala. Mr Ramesh said a Rs 2-crore facility will be set up for cardamom processing and grading in Bodinaikkanur to ensure clean and graded spices. He also said that the commerce ministry will set up spice parks for turmeric in Erode, for cardamom and pepper in Idukki, for mint in UP and for chilli in Guntur. Enditem