File picture of an Udyan Fresh outlet in Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar, June 23: Following the success of vegetable kiosks under the brand name of Udyan Fresh in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, the directorate of horticulture is planning to set up similar outlets in Sambalpur, Rourkela and Berhampur.

The Bhubaneswar and Cuttack outlets have been set up by the horticulture department in public private partnership mode.

The agency purchases vegetables from the farmers directly and supplies to the consumers at cheaper rates than the market.

The directorate is planning to set up 20 such outlets in Sambalpur, six in Berhampur and four in Rourkela. In Sambalpur town, there will be 14 stores and Burla and Hirakud will have three each.

Officials said land had been identified and approved by the district collectors concerned. Sketches of the location and shops had been submitted to the municipal authorities.

“The private developer for the project will be finalised by the end of this month and the outlets will be ready to operate in the next two or three months,” said horticulture director Sanjiv Kumar Chadha. He also said the logo and brand name of these kiosks would be decided by the private party.

For supply of vegetables to these outlets, the directorate has constituted 125 farmer groups each for Berhampur and Sambalpur while 126 farmer groups have been constituted for Rourkela. As many as 25,000 farmers have been registered for these three towns.

Earlier, the directorate had set up 15 Udyan Fresh outlets in Bhubaneswar for availability of fresh vegetables at affordable price. The directorate had proposed another 22 such kiosks in Bhubaneswar.

The kiosks will be run in public private partnership mode.

While the government will provide land to the private partner, the private partner will ensure proper storage along with marketing of the vegetables. The horticulture directorate will fix the price of vegetables and fruits.

In March, deputy chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia had visited one outlet of Udyan Fresh and appreciated the move.

The private party would set up collection points for vegetables and from these points, the vegetables would be brought under proper storage facility of the kiosks. The payment of the farmers would be transferred directly to their bank accounts.