From correspondents in Delhi, India, 10:33 PM IST

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit Saturday inaugurated a hi-tech office complex at the Azadpur Mandi in north Delhi and promised such complexes would come up in all markets across the capital.

Dikshit dedicated the modern air-conditioned office complex with a covered area of 6,600 sq. m, constructed at a cost of Rs.100 million and a modern air-conditioned Kisan Bhavan with a covered area of 4,000 sq. m.

The cost of the Kisan Bhavan is Rs.70 million and would house fruit and vegetables traders and their employees at Azadpur.

The Kisan Bhavan has provision of solar-water heating, energy conservation, modern library, spacious parking, rainwater harvesting and indoor and outdoor lush-green plants to make the building environment friendly.

The new office complex has an auditorium with a sitting capacity of 200 people and display projector, conference room with a capacity of 60 people, computer centres, spacious parking, rain-water harvesting and a modern communication system.

'All the mandis (markets) in Delhi will soon have such modern office complexes and Kisan Bhavans in two years,' Dikshit said.

She expressed confidence that modern infrastructure would help in better management and increase in the earnings of the traders apart from providing amenities at reasonable rates to visiting traders for their comfortable stay.

Dikshit said a modern cold store would also become functional in the market to help traders preserve their products.

Delhi Development Minister Rajkumar Chauhan said an integrated facility centre for sorting, grading, packaging and electronic auctioning for fruit and vegetables would be set up at Azadpur apart from computerisation and e-commerce facilities.

Chauhan added that a new fruit market at Tikri Khamphur would be developed to decongest present fruit and vegetable market at Azadpur.

The market has a daily arrival of 13,000 tonnes of fruit and vegetables. With the opening of new Kisan Bhavan with 100 beds, it would provide night shelters to the farmers.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)