3.6.2. e-Choupal

♤ e-Choupal is an initiative from ITC's Agri Business Division to face the challenges of India's agricultural uncertainty.

♤ Indian agriculture is characterised by fragmented farms, weak infrastructure and the involvement of numerous intermediaries. e-Choupal aims at bringing out the Indian farmers from vicious circle of low risk taking ability.

♤ To increase the competitiveness of the Indian agricultural sector and enhance productivity, ITC has developed this market-led business model. It is assumed and expected that a growth in rural incomes will also result in the overall growth of Indian economy.

♤ e-Choupal operates in three layers. This three-layered infrastructure allows ITC to provide a complete end-to-end solution to suit the needs of both the farmers and consumers at village as well as in global level.

♤ The first layer consists of ICT kiosks (Village Level) with internet access, managed by an ITC trained local farmer called the Sancalak. The second layer is known as hubs managed by the traditional intermediary who has local knowledge /skills called Samyojak. The final layer is a network of companies (consumers of farmers‟ products and providers of products and services to the farmers) orchestrated by ITC is known as Choupal Sagar, which has a pan- Indian presence.

♤ With this model, ITC is able to deliver the same benefits as vertical integration does in matured agricultural economies like USA.

♤ e-Choupal is the largest initiative among all Internet-based programmes in rural India. It reaches to over 4 million farmers of more than 400000 villages through 6500 kiosks. It operates across ten states, namely Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Kerala and Tamil Nadu in the cultivation of soybeans, coffee, wheat, rice, pulses, and shrimp.