Mahindra Agri Solutions invests in e-commerce platform MeraKisan

Mahindra Univeg today announced investment in Mera Kisan, an e-commerce startup. Mahindra Univeg is a 60:40 joint venture between Mahindra Group's Mahindra Agri Solutions and Belgium-based Univeg (Greenyard Foods).

MeraKisan is an online shopping platform, which sources fresh vegetables and fruits directly from farmers and sells it to the customers. Ashok Sharma, MD & CEO, Mahindra Agri Solutions Ltd said,

Our investment (minority shareholding) in MeraKisan will enable the farmers and the consumers to connect digitally and create a win-win situation for both farmers and customers

It focuses on developing fresh fruit supply chain in India and imports fruits to make high quality produce available to domestic consumers. He added that Mahindra Agri Solutions interacts with farmers to improve their produce, quality and productivity by providing latest advances in farm technologies and agricultural know-how.

It also helps farmers by linking them to the market to provide better returns for their quality produce and thereby improving their lives, said Sharma.

Prashanth Patil, CEO-Designate of Mera Kisan, said that leveraging the digital platform, Mera Kisan will ensure delivery of high quality fruits and vegetables at the door step of the consumers. With this platform, farmers will be benefiting as payments are done to the farmers upfront through online payment gateways, Patil added.

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In March this year, Mahindra Agri Solutions Ltd (erstwhile MSSL) announced the appointment of Pawan Goenka, as Chairman and Ashok Sharma MD and CEO of the company's reconstituted board. The new board will also comprise Independent Directors namely M G Bhide, Hardeep Singh and Aruna Bhinge. Mahindra Agri Solutions was formed in February to drive synergies by transferring all of Mahindra's Agri businesses (except EPC Industrie Limited) under one roof. Currently, M&M's agri-businesses include crop care, seeds, seed potato, pulses, edible oils, fruits, dairy and micro-irrigation.