The Hindu : ITC to extend e-choupal network

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Dec 04, 2002

Business

Business

ITC to extend e-choupal network

By Our Staff Reporter

CALCUTTA DEC. 3. ITC plans to extend its e-choupal network to one lakh villages in the country, covering one-sixth of the population of rural India. Beginning with six e-choupals in June 2000, the company has so far set up 1,200 choupals in 6,000 villages.

Talking to newspersons here today, the company chairman, Y. C. Deveswar, said that World Bank had requested ITC to provide consultancy to replicate ITC's e-choupal model in Africa. The offer, however, was virtually turned down. "We are not yet ready to respond to the World Bank proposal as we now are focussed on expansion of the same in India.''

But for offering a direct low cost IT based marketing channel to the rural farmers in competition with the conventional `mandi', ITC is already using the choupals for marketing various products and services suitable to the rural community.

Earlier addressing the Infocom 2002, organised by NASSCOM and Business World, he said "ITC's investment in such an e-infrastructure creates abiding values for the farmer. In turn, it also places my company in a unique position of trust with the farming community as a reliable supplier of goods and services and, as a buyer of high quality cost effective farm output''.

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