Nidhi Nath Srinivas
New Delhi 23 July
WHEN Y.C. Deveshwar addresses ITC shareholders this week,
he's sure to gloat on one fact: the Net is weather-proof. Rains or not, ITC's pioneering
e-commerce initiative- the soya choupal- is now giving it a trading edge competitors can
only dream of.
Multiplying amoebically at the rate of four a day, ITC's
Net-based 1,000 choupals in Madhya Pradesh are now giving it real-time information on what
600,000 soya farmers are sowing, re-sowing, buying and thinking about the crop. This
precious advance information is translating into business plans far ahead of others.
Consequently, despite a likely poor crop this year, ITC is
planning to actually increase its soyabean crushing and trading, and lease more soya
crushing plants, apart from scaling up soyameal exports. ITC is already the second largest
player in the country's soyabean industry.
ITC became the first company in India two years ago to set
up a internet- based market information system for soya farmers, which also doubles up as
a channel for direct procurement of beans by ITC from farmers without going through the
mandis.
"Soya choupals are definitely giving us an edge over
other companies because we can see the changing scenario on a real-time basis. We get to
know exactly who is getting into soya, who is not and how much other crops like gram and
urad will get sown. We also get to immediately know the impact of every rain on the crop's
progress. Others are usually dependent on state crop estimates or sending their own
surveyors out for similar information," company sources.
"Farmers themselves are clamouring for these choupals
because they get weather and crop information as well. We trying hard to keep pace with
demand," they added. Though business targets will only be finalised by next week,
when total soya acreage is known, ITC is planning to crush more than 3 lakh tonnes
soyabean this year. It expects to export more than 3.50 lakh tonnes meal and trade in
50,000 tonne oil. It uses four plants for undertaking job work.
