SRINAGAR: The fruit and vegetable market at JabliPora, Bejbehara, which was established over a decade ago, has witnessed significant infrastructure development over the years. Despite delays in its full-scale operation, the mandi was fully opened for trade in 2024-25, with transactions worth Rs 286.96 crore recorded during the fruit season, covering a volume of 64,864 metric tonnes.
According to government data, the development of the mandi has been carried out in multiple phases under various funding schemes. The initial phase of the project, amounting to Rs 5.97 crore, was undertaken under NABARD’s Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF-XIX) in 2014-15 and was completed in 2018-19. Subsequently, the second phase, costing Rs 9.73 crore, was implemented under the Prime Minister’s Development Programme (PMDP) from 2016-17 and completed in 2022-23. The third and fourth phases, with project costs of Rs 9.28 crore and Rs 8.18 crore, respectively, were initiated under NABARD’s RIDF-XXI in 2020-21 and are currently in progress, expected to be completed within this financial year.
The infrastructure created over an area of 298 kanals includes 12 auction platforms, an administrative block, three lavatory blocks, a gate plaza, a market yard, and a guard room. In addition, a Fruit and Vegetable Aggregation and Processing Centre has been set up, operated by the Jammu and Kashmir Horticultural Produce Marketing and Processing Corporation (JKHPMC). The facility comprises a canning and packing unit, a pack house for fruits and vegetables, a mushroom processing line, a tomato puree manufacturing unit, a fruit drying and freezing chamber, and other modern processing units.
The government has outlined plans for further augmentation of the mandi to transform it into a state-of-the-art wholesale market of national and international standards. Efforts are underway to integrate the market with the electronic National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) portal before the upcoming fruit season, facilitating online trading of agricultural and horticultural produce. Additionally, the process has been initiated for the transfer of approximately 65 kanals of adjoining land to accommodate a Kisan Ghar and other essential infrastructure to support farmers.
With these developments, the JabliPora fruit mandi is expected to become a major hub for horticultural trade, offering enhanced market access for farmers and boosting the agricultural economy of the region.
