Corporate bigwigs join hands with panchayats for RBH
Corporate bigwigs like Reliance, Tata, M&M, Microsoft, ITC and Coca-Cola have envinced interest in setting up exclusive rural business hubs in rural India to procure agricultural produce directly from the farmers, entailing higher income and emplo...
By PTI |
NEW DELHI: Corporate bigwigs like Reliance, Tata, M&M, Microsoft, ITC and Coca-Cola have envinced interest in setting up exclusive rural business hubs in rural India to procure agricultural produce directly from the farmers, entailing higher income and employment avenues for villagers, the government on Wednesday said.
"We are committed to rural development through a Public Private Partnership model involving the panchayat," Panchyati Raj Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar told reporters on Wednesday.
The proposed model, Rural Business Hub (RBH), is a concept based on Public Private Panchayat Partnership model to address lacuna in the market structure, he said.
The concept of RBH, formulated jointly by CII and Ministry of Panchayati Raj, has generated interest from varied business houses like Reliance, Tata, M&M, Microsoft, ITC and Coca-Cola, the minister said at a press meet.
"Over the past one year we have secured signatures on 31 MoUs and received close on additional 75 expressions of interests of which 22 appeared to be with considerable potential for realisation for setting up of RBHs," Aiyar said.
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Apart from these, he said, a significant number of corporate houses are also willing to strike deal with the panchayats.The minister hoped that in the next couple of months the MoU figures would be extended to 51 while in Jatropha plantation MoUs could even reach 100.
The Panchyati Raj Ministry has identified eight focussed areas for RBHs including handicraft and ancillary industries, besides agri and allied activities.
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