Performance of Regulated Market–A Case Study of Hiriyur APMC in Karnataka State

The present study was conducted in Hiriyur taluk of Chitradurga district of Karnataka State. The study was undertaken to analyse the functioning of Hiriyur APMC in terms of pattern of arrivals and prices of notified commodities and financial performance. The secondary data / information were collected from the staff / records of the APMC. There was an increasing trend in arrivals of groundnut, sunflower and coconut while there was a decreasing trend in arrivals of paddy, maize, jaggery and redgram for the reference period (2007-08 to 2016-17). There was an increasing trend in prices of all the major commodities in Hiriyur APMC. The liquidity ratios, i.e., current ratio (ranged from 0.13 to 0.71) and acid-test ratio (ranged from 0.10 to 0.67) were less than the standard norm of unity for all the years of the reference period (2011-12 to 2015-16), indicating the poor liquidity position of the APMC. The solvency ratios, viz., debt-equity ratio (ranged from 1.80 to 4.31) and the debt ratio (ranged from 0.78 to 0.96) were more than the standard norms of one and 0.50, respectively, indicated that the solvency position of the APMC was not good enough to honour its liabilities. The profitability ratios, namely, fixed assets turnover ratio (ranged from 0.06 to 0.35), total assets turnover ratio (ranged from 0.06 to 0.19) and return on equity ratio (ranged from 0.18 to 0.52) were positive for all the years of the reference period which indicated that though meagre, the APMC was making profit.