Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flagship scheme — eNAM (electronic national Agriculture Market) — is set to be introduced in 15 markets in Tamil Nadu this year, according to sources from the State’s Agriculture Marketing Department. This includes Villupuram, Ulundurpet, Ambur, Udumalaipettai, Dindigal and Cumbum.

Currently, only two of the 270-plus regulated markets in the State are seeing electronic trading. One electronic market is in Vellore, where the State Government is using its own software, and the other is in Perundurai where the mandi is using the Unified Market platform of Rashtriya e Market Services.

A pilot run was conducted in these markets over the last 4-5 months. While electronic bidding is taking place, there is no sorting or quality testing equipment in either market.

The Centre will be giving ₹75 lakh as cash assistance to each eNAM mandi to set up grading and assaying facilities and other infrastructure, says a key official with the Department.

While funds have not reached the State yet, they will soon be transmitted and shortlisting of service providers for the infrastructure has already begun, he adds.

It is estimated that each market under eNAM will require about ₹1-1.5 crore to be set up with all basic infrastructure facilities, including grading and sorting equipment. To provide grading and assaying services, the Department is looking at looping in AGMARK laboratories.

The eNAM portal was launched in April 2016. Since then about 417 mandis in 13 States have been integrated with it, with Tamil Nadu being the latest. The challenge is in making traders, who have all along been transacting physically and dealing in cash, to move online.

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