Allotment of Commercial Godown - Uttarakhand

What is the Allotment of Commercial Godown facility?

Allotment of Commercial Godown is a facility of the Uttarakhand Agricultural Produce Marketing Board, the Mandi Parishad, under which licensed traders are given access to commercial godowns within mandi premises for the secure storage and handling of goods. Allotment of Commercial Godown is aimed at ease of doing business in the regulated market: a trader who buys in volume at the mandi needs somewhere to hold stock between purchase and dispatch, and the board's godowns supply that space inside the market itself. The board works under the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of Uttarakhand, and its headquarters are at Mandi Bhawan, Rudrapur, in Udham Singh Nagar district.

The legal frame is the Uttarakhand Agricultural Produce Marketing (Development and Regulation) Act, 2011, under which the board and the market committees, the mandi samitis, are constituted. Market infrastructure, godowns, shops, auction platforms, Kisan Bazaars, is built and owned by the samiti, and allotting it to users on rent is part of how a samiti puts the infrastructure to work and funds market maintenance. That is why the terms of a godown allotment are set locally by the samiti rather than by a single statewide table.

Main features

• Commercial godown space within mandi premises for storing and managing goods.
• Intended for licensed traders of the market area.
• Allotted by the mandi samiti on rent, licence fee or lease against a security deposit.
• Governed by the Uttarakhand Agricultural Produce Marketing (Development and Regulation) Act, 2011.
• A business facility, not a subsidy: no grant or cash benefit is attached.

Who is eligible for a commercial godown?

You can apply if:

• You are a licensed trader in the market area, holding a valid licence from the mandi samiti.
• Your firm is registered and you can produce the identity, registration and financial documents the allotment notice asks for.
• You can pay the rent, licence fee and security deposit the samiti has fixed for the godown.
• An allotment notice for vacant godowns is currently open in that market area.

You are not eligible and cannot claim allotment if:

• You do not hold a mandi licence. The facility is defined for licensed traders, so licensing comes first and allotment second.
• You have dues outstanding to the mandi samiti, whether market fee, rent or penalties, or a previous allotment cancelled for breach of conditions.
• You want the space for non-trade or residential use, or to sub-let it. A godown allotment carries conditions on use, and sub-letting is normally barred.
• You are an individual or farmer seeking personal storage. This allotment is commercial storage inside the regulated market; farmer storage is dealt with separately through mandi samiti facilities and rural godown programmes.

What documents are required?

How to apply for allotment of a commercial godown

1. Hold or obtain a mandi licence first. Apply to the mandi samiti of the market area for a trader's licence if you do not already have one, since the godown facility is defined for licensed traders.
2. Track the samiti's allotment notice. Godowns are allotted when a vacancy is advertised. Notices are displayed at the mandi office and, where the samiti uses a bidding route, published on the Uttarakhand e-procurement portal, uktenders.gov.in.
3. Collect the application form and the conditions of allotment. Read the rent, licence fee, security deposit, permitted use and lease period before applying; these differ between samitis and between rounds.
4. Submit the application with documents and deposit. Attach the mandi licence, identity proof, firm registration and the prescribed earnest money or security deposit, and file it at the samiti office within the notice date.
5. Take part in the allotment process. Allotment may be by auction, bid or evaluation of applications, as stated in the notice. Attend on the notified date and keep your acknowledgement.
6. Execute the agreement and take possession. On selection, pay the balance, sign the allotment or lease agreement with the mandi samiti and take possession of the godown against a written handover.

How do I follow up on an application?

The mandi samiti office that issued the notice is the point of contact throughout. The secretary of the samiti announces the result, executes the agreement and handles refunds of earnest money to unsuccessful applicants. Where the samiti cannot settle a dispute, the Uttarakhand Agricultural Produce Marketing Board at Mandi Bhawan, Rudrapur supervises the samitis under the 2011 Act and is the next level.

Keep the application acknowledgement and the deposit receipt. Both are needed to claim a refund or to press a query about the result.

Why applications fail

• No valid mandi licence, which disqualifies the application at the first check.
• Applying outside a notice period, when no godown vacancy has been advertised.
• Deposit not paid in the prescribed form or by the date stated in the notice.
• Dues pending with the samiti against the trader or the firm.
• Intended use not permitted under the conditions of allotment, for example storage of goods the notice excludes.

Help and information

• Mandi samiti of your market area — licensing, the allotment notice, the application and the agreement.
• Uttarakhand Agricultural Produce Marketing Board; Mandi Bhawan, Rudrapur, Udham Singh Nagar; portal ukapmb.org.
• Uttarakhand e-procurement portal, uktenders.gov.in, for board and samiti notices issued as tenders or auctions.

The Uttarakhand Agricultural Produce Marketing Board does not publish a statewide rent schedule, a fixed allotment calendar or a dedicated helpline number for commercial godowns, and each mandi samiti sets its own terms in its own notice. A trader should therefore work directly from the samiti's notice and office, and should not act on rates or eligibility conditions quoted by an intermediary.