E-Choupal: Importance for Rural India”,

ABSTRACT Agri business in India is at a transition point. The need is for an effective and efficient distribution system for agri-produce and provision for supply demand transparency. The reforms in this sector need to catch up with the pace of development in the economy and intermediation and participation of organized players in this sector will remove the lacunae. For this purpose I.T.C. Limited developed the "e-Choupals" to the rural areas of India. In this new business model, ITC reaches implicit agreements with some farmers (inside the network) that they can sell the products directly to ITC at the market price in the local market, but allow the farmers, both inside and outside the network, to access valuable information through the e-Choupals such as price updating, weather forecast, best practice etc., free of charge. ITC's Agri Business Division, one of India's largest exporters of agricultural commodities, has conceived e-Choupal as a more efficient supply chain aimed at delivering value to its customers around the world on a sustainable basis. 'eChoupal' also unshackles the potential of Indian farmer who has been trapped in a vicious cycle of low risk taking ability -low investment -low productivity -weak market orientation -low value addition -low margin -low risk taking ability. This made him and Indian agribusiness sector globally uncompetitive, despite rich & abundant natural resources. In this paper, we highlight ITC's incentive of offering such opportunities, to the farmers for their benefits and growth