In a bid to empower women and self-help groups run by them, IFFCO BAZAR has tied up with Surajmukhi Swayam Sahayata Krishak Samuh, a body active in Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, to which more than 404 SHGs in the region are attached.
“On 23rd June 2023, the IFFCO eBazar Limited established a “Mother Unit at Sikandarpur, Lucknow. It is the country’s first Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sewa Kendra (PMKSK) which will be entirely owned and operated by women. The Unit was inaugurated by Rajeshwar Singh, MLA, Sarojini Nagar, Lucknow”, informed Madhulika Shukla, CEO of the IFFCO BAZAR.
The aim is to uplift and support women self-help groups (SHG) by providing them with training in the best agricultural practices, financial assistance, market linkages etc. The collaboration will provide a comprehensive support system to empower women in the region and will benefit them in income generation, stated Madhulika
The grand event that took place recently in Lucknow was also attended, among others, by Yogendra Kumar, Marketing Director of the co-op titan. Impressed with roping in women and developing all women managed Bazar, IFFCO MD Dr U S Awasthi also tweeted about it.
Madhulika Shukla, CEO of the IFFCO BAZAR informed that these women SHGs will also help in taking the new generation fertilisers such as IFFCO Nano Urea and IFFCO Nano DAP along with Biofertilizers of IFFCO to every farmer in villages across the region thereby helping to increase the soil productivity as well as farmers income.
The IFFCO eBazar operates around 3300 modern retail stores across rural India providing modern retail experience to Indian farmers to buy Agri-inputs and implements. Farmers can also get Agri-inputs delivered at their doorstep by ordering online on the IFFCO BAZAR portal.
It bears recalling that the 100 percent owned subsidiary of the fertilizer cooperative IFFCO, the IFFCO Bazar achieved a business turnover of Rs 2457 crore and earned a gross profit of Rs 100 crore in the 2022-23 FY, beating all its own past records.
The business turnover of the IFFCO Bazar is 24 percent higher than the previous year’s turnover. Besides, the segment wise performance of the IFFCO Bazar has also been very good, registering an increase of 26%, 58%, 3% in franchisee, B2B and retail respectively.
The IFFCO Bazar also introduced a documentation management system (DMS), Geo-Tagging and Face-Recognition based mobile app for attendance and real time payment collection integration with major banks.
“We cover all the PIN Codes numbering 27000”, said Kamala Kant of the IFFCO Bazar with a tinge of pride.
