Food Corporation of India chooses mjunction to auction foodgrains for two years

KOLKATA: Food Corporation of India, the country's largest stockholder of foodgrains, has chosen mjunction to auction foodgrains for two years beginning April 2017, in a bid to provide timely and transparent distribution of foodgrains to a 4000-strong buyer base across India. For this, mjunction, the country's largest B2B e-commerce player, worked on a war footing to create a an e-auction model in just 15 days to address the existing issues and create an efficient and transparent system. In a statement issued on Wednesday, mjunction said its e-auction model will strengthen FCI's distribution mechanism, which in turn has a key role to play in addressing challenges like insufficient storage.

Commenting on the development, Vinaya Varma, CEO, mjunction said: "We are already in the agro-commodity market with tea. With this partnership, we are adding wheat and rice to our bouquet. Following metals, idle assets, rough diamonds and spectrum, this is one of the new areas that we are entering." mjunction is also exploring e-auction of other commodities like pulses, cotton, forest timber and produce, he added.

To cater to FCI's requirement, mjunction has introduced several process improvements which include introduction of a single window for pan-India e-auction and an automated end-to-end service. The process automation will reduce turnaround time, benefitting both buyer and FCI. A buyer will not have to open separate windows for each state auction and can access these auctions with a single login screen simultaneously. The buyer can also download the sale orders, release orders from multiple states using the same login ID from anywhere in the country.