Siliguri Regulated Market — Potato, Ginger & Cardamom Trade in North Bengal
Siliguri is the gateway to the north-east, and its regulated market committee yard is where north Bengal's potato, ginger and hill cardamom are consolidated before moving on to Assam, the rest of the north-east and Bhutan. A grower selling here is selling into a corridor, not into a city, and the price reflects what the corridor will bear that week.
Last reviewed: October 2026 · Rates, fees and timings change — check Agmarknet and confirm with the market committee.
Want to know how much money you will get by selling your crop? Calculate here.
MSP CalculatorThe Siliguri Regulated Market Committee operates under WBSAMB, which supervises 22 RMCs, 22 principal market yards and 515 sub-market yards across the state. Licensing, market fee and goods movement run through the e-Permit platform, and the yard is linked to eNAM, so an online bid can sit alongside the physical auction. The buyers are mostly traders and commission agents moving stock onward rather than retailers buying for a shop, which is why lot size and uniformity matter more here than presentation.
Potato is the volume crop, coming in from the Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar belts from late December. Ginger arrives from the same districts, and cardamom comes down from Sikkim. Potato is graded on size and skin, ginger on fibre, moisture and finger thickness, and cardamom on boldness, colour and oil content. Potato and ginger have no MSP; cardamom is a hill crop whose own auction centres in Sikkim often set the reference price first.
Guide first — price is a linked helper, not the headline.
Potato · modal price / quintal
₹1,448
+₹84 (+6.2%)vs yesterday
Falling vs 7-day avg (-1.2%) — hold if you can
Prices as of 2026-11-04 · Indicative sample — confirm on Agmarknet/eNAM or with the mandi office.
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Documents you need
- Aadhaar or voter ID of the seller
- Land record for the plot the produce came from
- Bank passbook in the farmer's own name
- Gate entry, lot number and weighment slips
- Transport documents for a consignment moving on to Assam or the north-east
Important warnings
- • Monsoon landslides on the north Bengal corridor can strand stock for days — a perishable lot held on the road is a loss, not a delay.
- • Potato and ginger have no MSP, and a heavy north Bengal crop can push the yard below the cost of production.
- • Cardamom's reference price is often set at the Sikkim auction centres first, so a Siliguri quote that ignores them is not the real rate.
- • Consignments moving onward to the north-east need the e-Permit paperwork in order, or the load can be stopped after it has left the yard.
- • Legal commission rate: Market fee ~1%; commission ~2% for foodgrains — verify the notified rate.
How to sell your crop at Siliguri Regulated Market
- 1
Confirm which commodity line your lot belongs to — potato, ginger and cardamom are graded and bought by different traders.
- 2
Grade and pack at the farm: one size per bag, because a mixed bag is priced at the smallest piece in it.
- 3
Check whether your lot is going into the eNAM bid or the physical auction, and compare the two before committing a full truck.
- 4
Enter the lot at the gate, take the lot number, and get it weighed on the yard weighbridge.
- 5
Confirm the accepted rate against your lot number, and check the grade recorded on the slip.
- 6
Collect the sale account with commission, hamali and weighing as separate lines, and fix the payment date in writing.
Take 100 quintals of potato at ₹1,050 a quintal — ₹1,05,000 gross. Commission at about 2% is ₹2,100, hamali and bagging ₹2,000, transport ₹3,500, leaving roughly ₹97,400, or ₹974 a quintal. Send the same lot onward to Assam and the buyer there may pay ₹1,300 — but the extra freight, the transit loss and the days on the road belong to somebody, and unless you are moving it yourself, that somebody is the trader, not you.
Local tips
In Siliguri, grade for the onward journey: a bag that survives a 500 km run to Guwahati is worth more than a cheaper one that arrives bruised. For ginger, dry the rhizome properly and cut out the damaged fingers before bagging, because moisture and rot are the two deductions you cannot argue with. Watch the corridor — a landslide or a blockade changes the price within a day, in both directions.
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West Bengal: registration & rules recap
Paddy MSP procurement registers farmers through PACS with land records and bank account (DBT). Potato has no MSP — it trades openly.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is traded at the Siliguri Regulated Market?
When does the potato season run in Siliguri?
How is ginger graded at Siliguri?
Why does the cardamom price depend on Sikkim?
Is the Siliguri market on eNAM?
Why is the Siliguri potato rate different from Kolkata's?
Sources & official links
- Agmarknet — daily arrivals & prices →
- eNAM — national agriculture market portal →
- West Bengal State Agricultural Marketing Board (WBSAMB) →
- Online Paddy Procurement System, Dept of Food & Supplies (epaddy) →
- Krishak Bandhu — farmer registration & status →
- data.gov.in — Agmarknet open data (API) →
Verify today's rate on Agmarknet before you load, and confirm commission, hamali and other charges with the Darjeeling market committee.
West Bengal
Mandi prices and government rules change often — always confirm current prices and procedures with your local mandi office or the official Agmarknet/eNAM portal. Ask Sahayak below for the latest guidance.