Calcutta, July 4: Bengal has been identified as one of the few states with potential to house three terminal markets, according to a study commissioned by the Union agriculture ministry and executed by the Netherlands-based Rabo Bank.

The markets will be 360-degree facilities for marketing agricultural commodities, housing multiple vendors and also an auction centre.

“The Rabo Bank study has highlighted three areas of focus for such terminal markets, which include one for fruits, another for vegetables and finally, the first in India, one for ornamental plants, including orchids,” said S.S. Ahuja, principal secretary of the Bengal ministry of food processing and horticulture.

“Besides Bengal, there are six or seven other states which are in the Rabo report and our state is high on the preference list. Bengal is most likely to be granted permission for all three markets,” Ahuja said.

Rabo Bank offers expertise and technology in cooperative development and agri-business in emerging markets of India and several other countries.

The Bengal government has identified three locations for the markets. The terminal market for fruits, which will also have a food park, would be set up on a 50-acre plot at Dankuni in Howrah district.

The vegetables market, which requires at least 30 acres, would come up in North 24-Parganas’ Barasat.

Baruipur in South 24-Parganas has been chosen for the ornamental plants mart, which needs around 27 acres.

The concept of an ornamental plants market would be extended in the form of retail outlets across the state. This will help promote the cultivation of such plants in which Bengal has an edge.

Ahuja said the food proce- ssing ministry would apply for land to the concerned state department as soon as Delhi greenlights the project.

The Dankuni market would involve an investment of over Rs 90 crore. The others, smaller in size, would entail smaller investments. The markets would most likely operate on a public-private partnership.

The food-processing ministry is now busy gathering feedback and inputs from stakeholders who would be affected most, local market associations and vendors.

The Union ministry has set up a committee for the project. It will meet representatives from the states in the next 15 days where the Rabo report will be finalised and the project modalities, including funding, will be worked out.

The project would also entail the setting up of a separate committee for auction.