With an indication of giving pace to establishing a national market and making it a reality by the Central Government, the concept of national market has become a hot issue. Though the term national market is still treated just as a concept in India, it had been an useful tool for market integration from long time ago in many parts of the world.

The best example which India could learn from is the ‘One Market’ concept of European countries. Despite the fact that many of the European countries do not transact in same currencies, the concept of national market has evolved to developed stage.

The movement of products from one country to another without any hurdle and without incurring any unnecessary cost in the form of tax or in the form of indirect cost such as waiting for time consuming paper work while entering into border of another country was a remarkable step in integrating the European market. In order to facilitate the free flow of products among the European countries, adoption of harmonised standard system for all the traded products became a key of success.

With the agenda of conceptualising and formation of national market in India, the topic is under discussion at different forums. Though there are many issues which have to be considered while formulating a draft policy, a few barriers have to be looked atseriously by the Central as well as state governments.

Taxation System: In India, the taxation systems are structured in such a way that both the Centre and the State Governments have powers to collect tax in various forms. At micro-level, even the local authorities (municipals) are engaged in levying tax.

Though in the case of direct tax, there is no structural issue, the same is not the situation with regard to indirect tax. Many forms of the indirect tax such as octroi, entry tax, state excise duty, surcharge on sale tax and motor vehicle tax, etc., are State subjects.

According to a report by Assocham, the absence in uniformity in the pattern of commodity taxation results in harassment to taxpayers by multiple tax authorities. The taxes imposed on the movement of vehicle, which is essential for goods transport also vary. It is imperative to formulate the concept of national market to overcome the tax barriers charged by different authorities in different forms.

Reform in APMC Acts: Though the APMCs in States were set up to protect the interest of farmers, it was restrictive in selling the produce outside the mandi. Many States have reformed their APMC Act on the lines of the Model APMC Act 2003 and permitted farmers to utilise the service as an option (by allowing the farmers to enter into contract farming); despite this, there have been instances of mandi fee being levied on corporates sourcing directly from farmers (in Delhi).

Infrastructure Promotion and Development: Type and availability of cold chain infrastructure in the country need to play a major role if the dream has to come true in the case of marketing of fruits and vegetables. The present status of cold storage capacity is considered pathetic as the country does not have even 50 per cent of the required capacity.

Except Punjab, all Indian States face acute shortage in cold storage capacity.

The Assocham reveals that “India incurs post-harvest fruits and vegetable losses worth over ₹2 lakh crore each year largely owing to the absence of food processing units, modern cold storage facilities and a callous attitude towards tackling the grave issue of post-harvest losses. West Bengal tops the list with annual post-harvest losses worth over ₹13,657 crore followed by Gujarat (₹11,400 crore), Bihar (₹10,700 crore) and Uttar Pradesh (₹10,300 crore).”

If a national market for fruits and vegetables is established and there is free inter-State movement, the availability of the product will help check inflation. Thus, if the prices decline, it may result in increased consumption of fruits and vegetables which will not only reduce wastage but also ensure nutritional security.

Online trading and alternative mandi: The concept of online trading at national level for fruits and vegetables can be realised with modern cold chain infrastructure, which may act as an important platform for bringing up buyers and sellers on pan-India basis. This requires a strong will and promotion of modern cold chain infrastructure on war-footing level in the country.

This will help in adoption of online trading facility for farm produce. The way commodities in India are being traded at exchange platforms, fruits and vegetables can easily be traded.

The writers are with National Institute of Agricultural Marketing, Jaipur

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