Andhra employees to get groceries for discount, govt. to start a new portal

The state government is developing a special portal to provide home appliances at a lower price than that of open market. Andhra Pradesh Technology Services Limited (APTS) is developing a portal called 'G-Cart' similar to Amazon and Flipkart to offer computers, tabs, mobile phones and other electronic home appliances at discounted prices. Employees login by entering the ID number and develop the portal so that they can purchase goods. This portal is currently being tested experimentally. Security auditing has already been completed.

The APTS Managing Director Nanda Kishore told that the portal will be launched soon by the Chief Minister. APTS estimates that this will benefit about 10.36 lakh public sector entities. There are 7,76,492 government employees in the state, including various corporations, and 2.60 lakh volunteers.

Nanda Kishore said he was in direct talks with manufacturers (OEM-Original Equipment Manufacturer) to deliver goods at a lower rate than the ecommerce portals currently available. With over one million employees, OEM companies are also interested in signing up. Some employees also form a group buying policy to give more discounts if they form groups and place a large purchase order at once.

At the same time, the state is in talks with wholesale retailers to provide low-cost goods to women who have set up shops under the YSR Cheyutha. Agreements will be made with companies such as Wal-Mart, D-Mart and Reliance. APTS MD Nanda Kishore said that an experiment is currently underway in Krishna district in this regard. He said about 75,000 people in the state have set up shops under the YSR Cheyutha for which arrangements are being made to deliver the goods directly to the shops as purchasing is a hassle.