Company set up by farmer; turnover reached 7 crores

Maharashtra’s largest region of orange plantations is Varud and Morshi talukas in Amravat district. Out of a total of 150000 hectares of oranges, these two talukas alone cover about 1 lakh hectares. And so, when it comes to oranges, this region is known as Vidarbha’s California. Several farmers have done successful business with oranges. Uddhav Futane is one such successful farmer from Shendurjanaghat (Varud taluka, Amravati district). Uddhav is popular as a progressive and experimental farmer in the entire district of Amravati. His father too was in the nursery business. They used to sell ‘paneri’, i.e. orange saplings and plants. In 2017, Uddhavrao founded Mauli Plastics with his children. Moreover, he has also set up an orange mart. He has started these businesses from the income he earned from farming. Let us try to understand more about his journey from farming to entrepreneurship.

Set up Mauli Plastics on the basis of farming; company generated employment for locals

There was a time when Uddhav had merely 3 to 4 acres of land. Working on the same farms, Uddhav purchased 60 acres of land bit by bit. His journey from 4 to 60 acres was very rough. Rather than sticking to one business, he ran multiple businesses. He founded this company in 2017. This region produces oranges on a large scale. Crates used to be required to export oranges, and farmers used to procure them from other places. But it wasn’t affordable for them. Uddhav started the plastic company with the intention of making crates available to them at affordable prices.

Everything is automated in this company. They presently have 15 employees, and their monthly electric bill is Rs.6-7 lakhs.

Variety in crates

They manufacture crates in three types, namely PP (for single use), CP (for 2-3 times use) and HD for repeated long-term use. The production cost of PP is Rs.80, and the company earns an 8-10% margin on it. Their rates vary from Rs.100 to Rs.250 depending on the crate. The raw material required for it is Rs.50-80 per kg, and is procured from Gujarat, Jalgaon, Daman and Nagpur

Annual turnover of the company

After founding the company, they didn’t have much demand in the beginning. But as the income and exports from oranges kept increasing, their business also went up. In the past 6 years, they have manufactured 35 to 40 lakhs of crates. Crates are directly sold to businessmen and farmers. Their present annual turnover is Rs.6-7 crores.

Business supported by oranges as well as other fruit orchards

People come to Shendurjanaghat for crate purchasing from Rajasthan, Paratwada, Amravati, Varud, Morshi, and Pandhurna, Saunsar, Katol, Savner and Narkhed from Madhya Pradesh. Their crates are used not only for oranges but also to sell mangoes, grapes and other fruits and crops. With increasing demand, they are manufacturing more than 3 lakh crates per year. From the money he earned from farming, he not only been running his household, but has also set an example to show that a larger business can be generated.

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Pragati Bahurupi

Courtesy: Mahamoney