Reuters Market Light, part of Thomson Reuters, wins prestigious World Business & Development Award
Mumbai, November 9, 2010: Reuters Market Light (RML), the pioneer in creating a professional micro-information service for India’s agricultural community, has won a prestigious World Business and Development Award (WBDA) in recognition of its efforts for improving the lives of India’s farming community.
RML is among the ten global companies that picked up a WBDA for improving the lives of some of the world’s most disadvantaged communities and applying their inclusive business expertise to the worldwide efforts to end poverty.
The WBDA Award ceremony is part of the special focus on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) during the opening week of the United Nations’ General Assembly in New York. The biennial WBDA is hosted by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Commenting on the prestigious international award, Mr. Amit Mehra, Founder and Managing Director, Reuters Market Light (RML) said “The award recognizes our efforts to help address some of the most pressing problems faced by countless Indian farmers. It is very encouraging to know that through our innovative business model, we are contributing – in our own modest way – to the global efforts to achieve Millennium Development Goals outlined by the United Nations”.
This year an unprecedented 172 nominations were received, representing a variety of business and commercial endeavors, and included business associations, NGOs and individual companies from more than 42 countries.
The award stands testimony to the fact that businesses like RML can be an engine of both growth and development and by mobilizing human and financial resources; they can be valuable source of innovation to promote positive change.
This information service launched in India in 2007 offers agriculture related information on various crops, pricing, market geographies, and climate/weather conditions and forecast helping farmers to improve their production and reduce marketing risks. RML, which began in 2007 in Maharashtra as a pilot project, has grown to a pioneering business that now operates in 13 states of India. The service is estimated to have reached over a million farmers and covers nearly 1,000 markets and over 250 crops and varieties.
About Reuters Market Light
Reuters Market Light (RML) is an award-winning highly personalized micro-information service for farmers in India. Each farmer gets spot prices of his chosen crops from nearby markets, news and crop advice as per his region or crop, and localized weather forecast – all as per his individual preferences in his local language as simple SMSes, irrespective of the handsets and operators. Within only three years of the launch in India, it has reached over an estimated million farmers who have reaped significant return on their investment; some of them have individually achieved up to INR 200,000 ($ 4000) of additional profits, and savings of nearly INR 400,000 ($8000). The business has been widely featured in leading international and national media and is a case study for strategic innovation in leading business schools in the world.
For more information, contact:
Nilanjana Nangia
Genesis Burson-Marsteller
+91 99860 74334
