New Delhi: The New Delhi-headquartered agri technology and warehousing solutions conglomerate, Sohan Lal Commodity Management (SLCM), has received a record contract as a service provider for the Preservation, Management and Security (PMS) of food grain stock from the State Government of Madhya Pradesh.
The contract involving the management of over 322,000 metric tonnes (MT) of primarily wheat, paddy and other notified agricultural commodities on behalf of the Madhya Pradesh Warehousing & Logistics Corp. (MPWLC) is for two years. Based on SLCM’s performance, the PMS contract can be extended by another year at the discretion of MPWLC.
SLCM will be providing PMS services at 11 locations in the districts of Sheopur, Bhind, Shivpuri, Guna, Ashok Nagar and Datia in the Gwalior Zone of the central Indian state.
Speaking on the award, Sandeep Sabharwal, Chief Executive Officer, SLCM Group, observed, “Quite like the yeoman service performed by the nation’s corona warriors, agriculture workers and people engaged in agricultural warehousing and supply chain management at our group companies have worked doggedly in the past 17 months to ensure a disruption-free movement and safety of the produce by facilitating its seamless storage, transportation and warehousing. The MPWLC contract is yet another endorsement of our ability to deliver not only cost-effective but also technologically advanced warehousing solutions to the nation. We are grateful to the country’s second-largest state for the trust placed in us.”
Salman Ullah Khan, Chief Business Officer, SLCM, said, “Based on our technical merits, experience and competitive commercials, we have been awarded a PMS assignment by MPWLC for management of agricultural commodities in Madhya Pradesh. We are thankful to MPWLC for reposing their confidence in our abilities and are hopeful that with our operational capability coupled with round-the-clock digital vigilance and real-time update of on-field activities, we shall manage commodities efficiently. Our solutions incorporating the latest digital technologies will enable the state government to not only ensure the quality of the stored commodities but also help minimise post-harvest losses.”
SLCM will be executing this open CAP contract using its AgriSuraksha solution that incorporates the latest cutting-edge internet-based surveillance technology, enabling monitoring as well as interaction with the personnel at the site. This enables 24×7 monitoring of produce in faraway locations from the command and control centre at the group’s corporate headquarters in New Delhi, personal computers, or handheld devices like laptops, tablets and mobile phones in real-time.
As of June 2021, 200 warehousing facilities were tracked using AgriSuraksha. By the close of FY2021-22, SLCM expects to bring 80% of its warehouses under its coverage.
Launched in April this year, AgriSuraksha is part of SLCM’s proprietary centralised real-time process management system called AgriReach. A result of several years of research by in-house experts, AgriReach is a culmination of all the processes, methods and systems to ensure the health of the crop and start warehousing operations in just 24 hours at any location irrespective of the available infrastructure to provide a standard operational experience at all facilities even while maintaining the highest standards of quality control. It combines a series of processes, audits and real-time tracking of the facilities to give error-free results and depletes the risk of crop damage.
Technologies like geo-fencing to bar-coded storage receipts are embedded in the system to avoid theft, pilferage and conduct internal audits along with a multi-tiered ‘Maker and Checker’ policy.