Plan to supply veggies to apartments crawls

The government’s ambitious plan to supply agricultural produce to an estimated 1.30 lakh flats across at least 720 apartment complexes in the city is getting off to a slow start.

Although the delivery scheme went into effect on Sunday, the Horticultural Producers' Cooperative Marketing and Processing Society (HOPCOMS) said it has been able to supply only 60 tonnes of fruits, vegetables and other agri-produce to a handful of apartment complexes in three days.

“On Tuesday, we supplied a total of 25 tonnes of produce to 18 apartment complexes,” said HOPCOMS general manager Ramamurthy N. The revenue earned by HOPCOMS during such undertakings has been slim: about Rs 3.60 lakh cumulatively in three days.

“We have not received many indents from the many apartment complexes in the city limits,” Ramamurthy explained. Indents are requests to be made by apartment associations asking for products to be delivered to their buildings.

According to HOPCOMS, it has a list of 2,500 apartment complexes in the city, with the names and phone numbers of resident welfare association representatives.

“We have 25 members working on informing these apartments of the delivery services being offered by us, but the response has been slow,” Ramamurthy said, adding that notices had also been carried by papers.

The delivery scheme was intended to compensate for the Covid-19 lockdown which has isolated the city’s large consumer base from often basic grocery purchases.

Not enough vehicles

There is scepticism that HOPCOMS will be able to fulfil the demand if a large number of apartments come forward to make use of the delivery service. According to a source, HOPCOMS has only 10 rented vehicles for apartment deliveries.

These include a number of Tata 407 light trucks and Mahindra Bolero maxi trucks. “The 407s are used to supply larger apartments, while the Boleros are directed towards smaller buildings,” the source said. According to the manufacturers, the 407s have a top carrying load of 2.25 tonnes. The Boleros can carry up to 1.5 tonnes.

“If the number of apartments opting for the scheme increases, HOPCOMS will somehow have to increase its vehicle fleet,” the source said.

Demand at shops doubles

Meantime, a representative of the Horticulture Department said some apartments were declining to make use of the services, instead preferring to patronise local HOPCOMS stores.

Demand at these shops has jumped up. According to data from HOPCOMS, it was selling about 40 tonnes per day at its stores, with a daily turnover of about Rs 25-30 lakhs before the lockdown. “Now, we are selling about 90 tonnes of produce daily; on Monday, we sold about 100 tonnes. Our revenue during the lockdown has been about Rs 60-70 lakhs daily,” Ramamurthy said.