The concept of a agriculture produce market regulation programme in India dates back to the British Raj: raw cotton was the first farm produce to attract the attention of the Government due to the anxiety of British rulers to make available the supplies of pure cotton at reasonable prices to the textile mills of Manchester (UK). Consequently, India's first regulated market (Karanja) was established in 1886 under the Hyderabad Residency Order, with the first legislation being the "Berar Cotton and Grain Market Act" of 1887, which empowered British residents to declare any place in the assigned district a market for sale and purchase of agricultural produce and constitute a committee to supervise the regulated markets. This Act became the model for enactment in other parts of the country.