A consignment of vegetables containing green peas and Ramnagarbhanta (round green brinjal) was flown to Sharjah by Air India Express.
The consignment was flown from Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport in Varanasi. The consignment was flagged off by the President of APEDA and senior officials of the Central and State Government. The consignment included 1000 kg of cargo, which included vegetables like green peas, and Ramnagar bhanta. After the direct export started from Varanasi Airport, now the way to export more agricultural products from Varanasi Airport has paved way, which includes exporting GI products of Varanasi region and its adjoining areas.
As recently the Hon’ble Prime Minister has laid special emphasis on promoting GI (Geographical Indication) products and making our local products ‘Global to Global’, keeping this in mind, APEDA President, Dr. M. Angamuthu, Ramanagarbhanta ( Round green brinjal), which is one of the many unique products and is in the process of obtaining GI certification and has been identified for publicity in the international market.
Farmers will benefit a lot
Eastern Uttar Pradesh is an area surrounded by land, and the nearest sea ports are a thousand kilometers from here. In such a scenario, an option to export through the airport is nothing less than a boon for the farmer producer organizations (FPOs) and exporters in the region.
The airport at Varanasi did not have the necessary facilities for direct export, due to which the exporters here were forced to do their exports either through Lucknow or Delhi.
Exports could not get a boost from here due to the additional cost of transportation and due to the long time spent in local transportation and the possibility of the related produce getting spoiled due to export related operations.
Particularly in view of the current Kovid-19 situation, the movement was not taking place properly, and the FPO had to face huge difficulties in selling its produce.
Due to the untiring efforts of all concerned agencies, Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport in Varanasi has now created a fully functioning window for all clearances required for agri-exports. Also Read: SBI Account Holders: You can withdraw so much money from SBI ATM card, daily limit is up to one lakh rupees
Cold storage has been made at the airport for perishable agricultural produce. To ensure speedy custom clearance, a window has been made for custom clearance at the airport.
There will be a clearing agent
These agents will help the farmers. Facilities related to custom clearance, registration of AD code for traders / exporters will be available at the airport. All major airlines such as Air India Express, Air India, SpiceJet, IndiGo have been encouraged to set up a BG bond and trans-shipment clearance facility for international cargo at Varanasi airport.
Preparations to make Varanasi an export hub
The process of materializing the ‘Varanasi Ek Krishi Export Hub’ project, along with the continuation of several concrete measures taken by APEDA, has started yielding good results and with the vision of Hon’ble Prime Minister to double the income of farmers Along with realizing, efforts to increase exports are also gaining new momentum.
During the epidemic, APEDA made every effort to facilitate the supply of its produce for export to the farmers. As a result, it was possible to successfully send several export shipments from Varanasi region via Lucknow and Delhi.
Exporters and FPOs of the region have begun to receive good response from exporters as well as domestic markets such as Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi, etc. to obtain the respective produce. Some of the achievements in this direction are as follows: Also Read: Indian Railways: After all, why are trains late? Now railway officials will address this and prepare a report
Mangoes and vegetables from Varanasi were added to the London and Dubai markets. Ghazipur’s green vegetables were linked to London and Dubai markets. The regional rice of Chandauli was added to Qatar. Some trade bodies or organizations in Varanasi region have also been registered as an exporter.
APEDA (Ministry of Commerce and Industry) is working closely with all stakeholders to coordinate with all stakeholders related to exports, as well as to promote Indian agricultural produce in the international market.
