Nafed’s e-auction portal for selling agri-commodities to be launched today

In a significant leap towards digitizing India's agricultural trade, the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (Nafed) today launched its own e-auction portal, NAFEX.in, in New Delhi. Union Cooperation Minister Amit Shah, who officiated the launch, emphasized that this move aims to cut out traditional 'middlemen' and ensure greater transparency and efficiency in the sale of agricultural commodities, particularly pulses and oilseeds, procured under government support schemes. Previously, Nafed relied on private platforms like mjunction, NCDEX e Markets (NeML), and E-Teach to auction approximately 5.3 million tonnes of pulses and oilseeds annually, incurring transaction fees of about 0.03% from buyers. This strategic shift to an in-house platform, developed in collaboration with Deloitte, is part of a broader government push for 'Sahkar Se Samriddhi' (Prosperity Through Cooperation), aiming to strengthen cooperative institutions and achieve self-reliance in essential food items by ensuring Minimum Support Price reach farmers directly. Accompanying NAFEX.in, other crucial initiatives like the DRISHTI inventory management portal, an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system for operational efficiency, and the NAFED-KALYAN scholarship scheme for farmers' children were also unveiled. Looking ahead, Minister Shah has set an ambitious two-year deadline for Nafed and the National Cooperative Consumers' Federation (NCCF) to transition entirely to direct procurement of pulses and oilseeds from farmers, bypassing intermediaries. This directive, coupled with the potential for NAFEX.in to be adopted by other state-level cooperative agencies, signals a concerted effort to create a unified, digital agricultural trading ecosystem. The success of these platforms will be keenly watched as India strives to reduce its reliance on imports and empower its farmers through technology-driven market reforms.