As per report tamilnadu chief minister edappadi k palaniswami in his latest press statement announced a one-month extension of the waiver of cold storage fee and market cess that had already been granted to farmers in the state until april 30. The cold storage facilities at procurement centres in the state can be used to stock up produce from farmers for a period of up to six months. The chief minister had earlier granted an exemption of storage charge for 30 days. This has now been extended by an additional month.
For produce stored inside such facilities, farmers can avail loan amount of maximum of 50% of the market value of the produce or Rs three lakh (whichever is lesser). The loan tenure is 180 days and five per cent interest. The government had already announced that the interest for the first 30-days need not be paid. This has been extended for another month. The charges for storing fruits and vegetables in cold storage facilities are being borne by the government up to april 30. In his latest announcement, the cm has extended this too, by another month.
The market cess of one per cent on sale value, paid by farmers, was waived off till april 30 for produce such as paddy, millets, pulses, groundnut, sesame, coconut, cotton, onion, chillies, tamarind, cashew, jaggery, tapioca, in addition to fruits and vegetables in some districts. This waiver has also been extended till May 31. Additionally, the state has mobilised pushcarts for door-to-door selling of fruits and vegetables across the state, mainly in the city of Chennai. The Horticulture Department also launched the eThottam website on which residents of chennai can place orders for fruits and vegetables.
