In a pioneering move to modernise India’s agri-commerce landscape, Adani Agri Fresh launched the country’s first Digital Mandi for apples in Bithal-Rampur, Himachal Pradesh, on Wednesday.
The platform blends cutting-edge automation with a farmer-first approach to overhaul how apples are graded, priced and sold—ushering in a new era of transparency and trust.
The Digital Mandi aims to fix long-standing inefficiencies in the apple trade, historically dominated by middlemen, opaque pricing, and delayed payments. Farmers now arrive with unpolished crates rather than expensive packaging. Automated AI-driven systems handle grading, sorting and packaging, while digital photographs of each lot are uploaded to a bidding platform accessible to buyers across India.
The result: competitive pricing, zero bias and faster payments—processed within seven days. “Whether I bring 10 boxes or a hundred, the price I get is for quality, not quantity,” said Narveer Singh, a grower from Shimla. “There’s fairness now.”
At the core of this transformation is Farm-Pik, Adani Agri Fresh’s branded fruit initiative. Since 2006, the company has collaborated with over 17,000 apple farmers in Himachal. Its three Controlled Atmosphere (CA) storage facilities—across Bithal, Rohru, and Sainj—can hold up to 24,000 metric tonnes, enabling farmers to time their sales and avoid distress pricing.
Adani’s ecosystem goes beyond physical infrastructure. The Adani Farmer App offers real-time services, from delivery slot bookings and payment updates to agronomic advice and weather alerts. On-ground training and hail protection solutions add a layer of resilience, turning growers into agri-entrepreneurs.
The model is designed to benefit all stakeholders. Buyers gain access to traceable, quality-graded produce with digital records. Policymakers receive granular crop data to inform interventions, subsidies, and disaster responses.
While apples form the flagship, Farm-Pik’s reach is pan-India—handling mangoes, grapes, pomegranates, and even vending machine-ready fresh fruit portions in metros.
More Digital Mandis are in the pipeline, signalling Adani Group’s ambition to build the country’s largest branded fruit ecosystem. “This isn’t just a tech rollout—it’s a reset of India’s farm economy,” said Manish Agarwal, Business Head, Adani Agri Fresh Limited.
By putting farmers at the centre of a digitised, decentralised value chain, Adani Agri Fresh is not only transforming agri-trade—but also redefining how India grows, trades and eats its fruit.