Innovation and New Product Development Case Study

ITC’s E-Choupal: A Mirage of the Poor?

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Abstract:
E-Choupal is a novel initiative of ITC Limited (ITC), an Indian conglomerate, to improve its marketing channel in agriculture. It has its roots in Project Symphony –a pilot project launched in 1999 to organise ITC’s agri business. The business model was designed to accommodate farmers, intermediaries in the traditional model and the company through information technology. The main objective of e-Choupal is dissemination and disintermediation of price information. E-Choupal deals with various products – feed ingredients, food grains, edible nuts, processed fruits and marine products. It has extended the basket to horticulture and spices. As of 2007, e-Choupal operates in the Indian states of Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Uttaranchal, Karnataka, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Kerala and Rajasthan. By 2012, ITC has planned to expand the project to 15 states in India reaching 100,000 villages. ITC has launched Choupal Sagar, a multi-purpose retail outlet in the rural areas with plans to open 700 such rural malls by 2012. ITC-IBD has initiated a new store format Choupal Fresh Cash & Carry Stores for retailing fresh fruits and vegetables across major Indian cities. ITC has piloted a project with a three-part combo module to manage the entire value chain. It is harnessing the technology platform for improvement. The biggest test for ITC is the aggressive scaling up of its operations to successfully reach its vision.

Pedagogical Objectives:

• To understand the structure of the e-Choupal network
• To discuss the benefits derived out of the e-Choupal network
• To discuss the future of the e-Choupal in terms of scalability.

Keywords :  E-Choupal; Corporate Social Responsibility; ITC Limited; Farmers; India; Rural e-Business; Internet Kiosks; Value Chain Intermediaries; Choupal Sagar; Innovation Management Case Studies; Choupal Fresh; Rural Empowerment; Business Model; Supply Chain Management

Contents:

• E-Choupal: ITC's New Business Model
• E-Choupal: A harbinger of good fortune or vice versa?
• Future of E-Choupal: Is it scalable or not?