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The first store will be located at Central Delhi’s Rajiv Chowk metro station, with an aim to take advantage of its high footfall. The store will be owned and operated by the National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India Ltd (NCCF), an organization that procures agricultural commodities such as pulses, spices, food grains, oil seeds, pharmaceutical items and other consumer products on behalf of the government and sells them to consumers at reasonable rates.
NCCF plans to open 15-20 stores at metro stations in Delhi. The plan is to expand the reach of NCCF programs beyond the current limited mobile van program.
The government’s move comes in response to the high retail inflation caused by uneven and scanty rains. In July, retail inflation reached a 15-month high of 7.44%, with food price inflation peaking at 11.5% – the highest in over three and a half years. Although the government has implemented measures to curb food inflation, such as export restrictions and importing pulses, food inflation still remained high at 6.61% in October.
Read From ET | Government plans for staple food stores
By opening these stores in metro stations, the government aims to cater to a larger number of consumers and ensure they can benefit from the subsidies offered. The initiative is part of a pilot project conducted by NCCF in collaboration with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation and may be replicated in other major cities with metro rail networks if successful.
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