State veggies reach metros through air

Ranchi: In order to support and provide better market price of agriculture produce to farmers of Ranchi and its neighbouring areas, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) is facilitating transportation of vegetables and fruits from Birsa Munda International Airport to several parts of country.
The transportation was possible after Ranchi MP Sanjay Seth raised the issue with civil aviation minister.
Talking to TOI, airport director of Birsa Munda International Airport, KL Agarwal, said they have been doing it since the cargo operations started and Seth had approached the civil aviation ministry, which in turn approved the vegetable shipment from the city.
“Currently, over 20 tonnes of vegetables which include French beans, tomato, litchi, green peas, okra among others are being sent to different cities,” he added.
Seth said, “Farmers of my constituency requested me to arrange vegetable cargo so that they could sell their produce at competitive rates. I had met the then civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri ji . Consignments of peas and litchi were transported to cities like Ahmedabad and Bengaluru at less than Rs 10/kg. This will augment farmers’ incomes.”
Cargo manager of one of the airlines, said: “We have different rates for carrying cargo. It is usually expensive if it is less than 45 kg. It becomes substantially cheaper when it is in tonnes and if a vendor is GST-registered.”