Maharashtra’s Agriculture Minister Manikrao Kokate has said that the Maharashtra agriculture department is planning to construct special shopping malls in different parts of the state where farmers can sell their produce directly to consumers. The malls are set to be built on a Public Private Partnership (PPP) model and will be on 35,000 acres of land parcels owned by the Agriculture Department. The pilot project is likely to be set up soon. The department also owns land parcels in different cities, which are either lying vacant or being encroached upon. As per the plan, 50 per cent of the mall will be given to the private players for commercial use, where shops and showrooms of their choice can be set up. This area may be given on a 30-40-year lease basis to the private player. The remaining 50 per cent area will be given to set up shops only to farmer bodies, self-help groups, farm producers’ companies and even individual farmers.