Online sale of shahi litchi gets order of 4,400 kgs on Day 1

PATNA: The much-awaited online sale and doorstep delivery of garden fresh and delicious mangoes and litchis kicked off on Wednesday.

The pilot project, which took off in collaboration of the horticulture department with the Bihar postal circle, received order of 4400 kilograms of litchi on the first day of sale.

Anil Kumar, postmaster general (east) said, “Online sale of litchi evoked great response. We received order for 4400 kgs litchi on the first day of business.”

The postal department expects sale of over 1000 quintals during the season.

As per officials of horticulture department, shahi litchi would be available till June 15, while sale of Zardalu mangoes from Bhagalpur orchards would begin from June 1 and is likely to continue till June 20.

“The buyers need to register themselves on ‘horticulture.bihar.gov.in’ for placing order. More than 4800 customers registered themselves on Wednesday on our online sale portal”, added the official.

Minimum quantity order for litchi and mango is 2kgs and 5 kgs respectively. The price of litchi is Rs.100 per kg while mangoes would be available at Rs. 70 per kg.

Kumar said, “Packages containing 2kgs of litchis have been prepared for easy dispatch of order which is likely to be delivered within a day after placement of order. Customers can track their orders through the online portal of horticulture department.”

In the first phase of online sale, orders for litchi are being accepted from selected urban

areas of Muzaffarpur and Patna districts while orders for Zardalu mangoes will be accepted from selected urban areas of Bhagalpur and Patna.

Kumar said that the postal department ventured into the new business segment after the items with short shelf-life failed to reach the market on time and fetch a good return for value due to the lockdown.