Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Friday, launched in Nagpur a cashless/less cash township model, developed by Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers and Chemicals Ltd (GNFC), across 81 townships in 12 States.
These townships will deliver 2.5 lakh cashless transactions per day, translating into 9 crore transactions in a year. GNFC’s township at Bharuch in Gujarat became India’s first complete cashless township after demonetisation announced by the PM on November 8, 2016.
The 81 townships included 56 in Gujarat and 25 in other States that have chosen to follow the cashless or less cash model. GNFC facilitated the model across these States under the auspices of the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog, said Dr Rajiv Kumar Gupta, Managing Director, GNFC, here.
Niti Aayog had appreciated GNFC’s initiative and model of cashless townships and advised the Government of India’s ministries and CMDs of 300-plus central PSUs for adopting this model and quickly replicate it.
The 81 townships include townships of central public sector companies like ONGC, Indian Oil, NTPC, SAIL, BHEL, NMDC, CRPF, BSF and Police Lines and private sector townships like Reliance, Essar, Adani, Birla Aditya, Welspun spread across 12 states, including Delhi, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and Chhatisgarh.
“Trends that have emerged from PwC’s study on Impact Assessment of GNFC’s cashless initiative clearly show that going cashless is a step in the right direction for our country due to the significant socio-economic benefits. This initiative offers financial inclusion, cashlessness as a lifestyle, better parental control, women empowerment and social upliftment using technology” said Dr Gupta.
As per the PwC study of GNFC’s cashless initiatives, for over 96% of farmers, cashless resulted in cost savings arising from fewer trips to fertilizer shops and discounts on cashless transactions. Electronic transactions resulted in better money management for over 90% farmers. Farmers felt more empowered and over 94% farmers preferred cashless transactions over cash transactions, for over 63% of them reliance on cash has dramatically reduced.
It further found that 92.3% of households believed there was a significant reduction in the use of cash resulting in more convenience when transacting for daily activities. Going cashless had become an effective tool for parents to have a better control over their child’s expenses. Around 98% of households said they saved time doing cashless transactions.
As per this study, an estimated 87% of fertiliser retailers reported a rise in their total revenues, revenue per transaction and total transactions. GNFC’s cashless initiative resulted in increased market share and geographic reach as farmers from far flung places flocked to GNFC outlets. With 100% township retailers accepting digital payments, the cash handling improved, further e-wallets resulted in reduced transaction cost.