SQL Star wins Rs 80cr order

MUMBAI: SQL Star International Ltd. has bagged a "E-Agricultural Marketing" project on a Build-Own-Operate (BOO) basis, worth Rs.80 crore from the Madhya Pradesh Agricultural Marketing Board. Under this project, all operations of 229 Mandis in Madhya Pradesh will be available online. The project, the first of its kind in the country, is a unique model of public-private participation in information technology for the agricultural sector. This project is a part of the MP government’s objectives to promote E-Governance. SQL Star has been entrusted with the task of ensuring that IT applications are provided for provisioning of services to farmers efficiently.

"SQL Star will provide IT infrastructure to take online all Mandis in Madhya Pradesh, using state-of-art technologies including a relational database, Smartcard interface, connectivity over VSATs, video-conferencing, and 24x7 live interface of Mandis with regional offices and the head office in Bhopal," a company spokesperson said.

It will also provide modules for kisan interaction from the Mandis through video-conferencing for knowledge enrichment on best agricultural practices, and transmission and sharing of agriculture departments’ data. The transmission backbone will also be made available to other State Government departments for a nominal fee.

Through this E-Agricultural Marketing project–named E-Krishi Vipnan (EKVI)–SQL Star endeavors to establish a new generation of fully transparent agricultural marketing practices. "SQL Star will work towards achieving the dream of the Government of Madhya Pradesh to create e-Mandis where the farmers will no longer bring their produce to the Mandis.

Instead, they will use e-transactions to sell the produce online, thereby reducing their transit and handling losses and optimizing price realization. The project will set an example of how IT can revolutionize rural India",, the spokesperson said.

The "Pilot" is scheduled to be completed by October 2003. It will then be rolled out in all Mandis in Madhya Pradesh in three phases by the end of 2004.

Shares in SQL were 20 percent higher at Rs 8.65 at the Bombay Stock Exchange, while the exchange's key index was up 0.68 per cent in late morning trading.