Kolkata Gets Its First State-Run Online Grocery Market

Kolkata: On Tuesday, Kolkata got its first online, state run grocery market, where consumers are assured of fresh vegetables, groceries, fruits and meat at a reasonable price.

A joint initiative of Sufal Bangla, Mother Dairy and Haringhata Meat, the market was inaugurated on Tuesday by minister for education Partha Chatterjee. As of now, it will be operated from the market at Rajani Mukherjee Road in New Alipore. Other than buying commodities physically from there, consumers can also buy online. They will have to log on to the website of Sufal Bangla and view a daily price list. Two lists, one of the present day and another of the day after would be posted every day. Upon deciding what they want to buy, they would have to call up on a particular number displayed there and place their order.

“Orders would be accepted twice a day, between 8 AM and 9 AM and again between 4 PM and 5 PM. There will be provision of free home delivery within three hours, for every purchase over Rs 500. At the moment there is only facility of home delivery within two kilometre. Soon it will be extended to three kilometres,” said agriculture marketing minister Tapan Dasgupta, at the inauguration of the market. The two important factors – price and quality – had been paid special focus.

“While the price is being fixed every day after comparison with the prices at different markets and it has been made sure that prices of fruits and vegetables are at least Rs 2-4 less than the market rates. As far as quality is concerned, there would be a quality control process so that people get their money’s worth,” said Jayanta Chowdhury, member of Bharatiya Kisan Udyog, one of the eight associations which have streamlined the process of procuring produces from the farmers directly and selling those over here.

Chowdhury also said that it had been ensured that farmers who supply fruits, vegetables and foodgrains at the market, got 70-80 percent of the MRP. At the moment, there are six shops of Sufal Bangla at the market.  Authorities said that within three months there would be 16 such outlets of Sufal Bangla across the city, including places such as Salt Lake and Ironside Road.

Local councillor Tarak Singh who had been busy supervising things at the market since morning today, said that the fisheries department had expressed interest in putting up an outlet here.

“The fisheries department will open an outlet here and there is also a plan to open an eatery here to attract more footfalls,” Singh said. (EOIC)