AGARTALA: Tripura Chief Secretary Kumar Alok on Saturday said that the Indigo airlines which operate a maximum number of flights from MBB Airport Agartala has approved a subsidy in the airfare for carrying pineapple shipments from Tripura.
Alok described the initiative as a major boost for the farmers willing to sell their harvested crops in the national and international markets. As per the revised airfares, the farmers have to pay Rs 12 per kg for Agartala to the Delhi route and Rs 9 for Agartala-Kolkata.
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“On our follow-up, Indigo reduced the price for the shipment of pineapple up to Kolkata and Delhi. Now farmers need to pay Rs 12/kg up to Delhi and Rs 9/kg up to Kolkata for 300+ kg pineapple. Our farmers will be able to ship large quantities of pineapple now”, the top bureaucrat tweeted.
Meanwhile, Tripura flagged off a six metric ton consignment of pineapple for Delhi on the same day. Tripura agriculture minister Pranajit Singha Roy formally flagged off the consignment by waving a green flag from Horticulture Research Complex, Nagicherra.
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He said, “The demand for Tripura grown Pineapple is increasing in leaps and bounds. Till August this year, we shall send Queen variety of Pineapple for national markets and after that Kew variety will be sent”.
The minister also said that it was the present government that left no stones unturned for the promotion of Pineapple in the national and international markets.