Union Home Minister and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah will launch NAFED’s digital auction platform, NAFEX.in, today on Tuesday in New Delhi, marking a significant step towards modernising agricultural marketing and strengthening transparency in cooperative operations.
The launch event, to be held at Atal Akshay Urja Bhawan, will also be attended by Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, along with senior officials of National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd. (NAFED), including Chairman Jethabhai Ahir and Managing Director Deepak Agarwal.
Apart from NAFEX.in, Shah will inaugurate a series of digital and farmer-centric initiatives aimed at improving operational efficiency and enhancing welfare support for the farming community.
These include the NAFED-KALYAN scholarship scheme for children of farmers, the DRISHTI portal for inventory management of pulses and oilseeds, and an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) portal designed to strengthen internal management systems.
Officials said NAFEX.in has been developed to streamline auction-related activities through a digital platform that promotes transparency, efficiency and ease of participation for stakeholders. The portal is expected to improve the conduct of agricultural produce auctions while reducing procedural bottlenecks. A live demonstration of user registration and the auction process will be conducted during the launch programme.
The NAFED-KALYAN scholarship initiative is intended to support the education of farmers’ children. During the event, Shah will distribute scholarship cheques to selected beneficiaries, underscoring NAFED’s focus on farmer welfare alongside its marketing and procurement functions.
Following the launch ceremony, the Cooperation Minister will hold discussions with members of NAFED’s Board of Directors. The federation will make a presentation on its recent activities, progress made on directives issued during Shah’s previous visit, and its future roadmap. The review is expected to cover procurement operations, cooperative marketing initiatives and technology-driven reforms undertaken by the organisation.
NAFED plays a key role in agricultural procurement, marketing, storage and cooperative trade across the country. The introduction of new digital platforms and welfare programmes is aimed at strengthening institutional efficiency while expanding services for farmers and cooperative stakeholders.
The initiatives are in line with the government’s vision of “Sahkar Se Samriddhi” (Prosperity through Cooperation), which seeks to leverage technology, transparency and cooperative participation to improve agricultural marketing systems and support rural development.