Odisha women turn entrepreneurs with millet food business; clock Rs2 crore annual turnover

In 2009, ten women of Jhirpani village in Odisha’s Sundargarh district pooled Rs50 each from their savings to generate income and improve their families' financial condition. With that Rs500 investment, the women began making muri (puffed rice) laddus.

The laddus were supplied to anganwadi centres under the Odisha government’s Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS). In 2011, they began making chhatua -- a multigrain mix – for anganwadis, increasing their earnings.

Today, the Dibyajyoti Self-Help Group (SHG) has 80 women members and clocks an annual turnover of Rs2 crore through the sale of 43 types of millet-based cookies and other snacks sold across Odisha. 

For the first two years, the Dibyajyoti SHG operations were low-key. “We have come a long way since then. The SHG members have achieved success and recognition because of their joint efforts and hard work. With the expansion of our product range and business, the financial condition of members has improved significantly,” Prema Das, President of Dibyajyoti SHG told 30Stades.

Damayanti Panigrahi, the Secretary of Dibyajyoti SGH, says, “At one point, my family was struggling for survival with the meagre income of my husband who was an auto driver at that time. Today, I can provide a good education to my children and lead a comfortable life,” she says.

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How the Women SHG grew 

With each passing year, more women have continued to join the Dibyajyoti SHG. “In 2017, we decided to take a loan of Rs 3 lakh to open a bakery under the banner of Dibyajyoti SHG. We began preparing various varieties of millet food products in a house at Jhirpani,” says Prema.

Soon, the demand for Dibyajyoti SHG’s cookies and other millet-based snacks grew and they started supplying them throughout Odisha. The SHG sells 43 types of cookies and biscuits made from finger millet, pearl millet, foxtail millet, little millet, etc. 

They also prepare millet snack items including idli, vada, samosa, jalebi, pakoda, and more. It has also introduced new products like ragi pickles and ragi tea bags.

“We have traditional recipes and also new ones developed to suit people’s preferences. We customise products based on feedback from clients,” Prema points out.

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In March 2022, Dibyajyoti SHG opened Millet Shakti Cafe at Koel Nagar, Rourkela, with the support of the Odisha Millet Mission and started selling millet-based biscuits, cookies and snacks. The place has rapidly gained popularity and gets orders from across the state daily.

The SHG also supplies its packaged food products to five railway stations in Odisha under the One Station One Product (OSOP) scheme. 

These are Rourkela, Rajgangpur, Jharsuguda, Sambalpur and Keisinga. This SHG hopes to add the Bhubaneswar railway station to the list soon.

About 10 percent of the turnover is the profit for the WSHG. Keeping some amount as savings, the rest is distributed among the members. 

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Dibyajyoti SHG is also applying for government projects, such as the inclusion of millets in the ST & SC Development Department to grow its business. It has now been linked with the Farmer Producer Organisation under Shree Anna Abhiyan to procure the raw materials (millets) from local farmers and improve their incomes.

Profits and women empowerment

Prema says the income and profits for SHG members have increased over the years. The annual turnover of the SHG was around Rs 1.50 crore last year. It has touched Rs 2 crore this year.

“The growth has led to women empowerment and members can now provide good education to their children and a more comfortable life to their families,” she adds.

Dibyajyoti SHG has also signed an MOU with dairy foods company Milk Mantra for selling its products on their mobile app Daily Moo. 

Ashmita Oram, a member of the SHG, says, “Dibyajyoti SHG has given us an identity that we could not have achieved otherwise.” Rohi Barua, another member, echoes her sentiments: “My entire family can lead a better life due to my income. They encourage and support me in my work,” she adds.

Prema says the members now want to turn the SHG into a large-scale industry. 

“If the state government provides us land and other necessary support, we will establish a unit where varieties of millet-based food products in large quantities can be prepared and supplied across India. We want to empower at least 1000 women,” she adds.

Dibyajyoti SHG has received several awards and recognition for its efforts in promoting millet-based products and empowering women. Following collaborations with the Odisha Millets Mission and Mission Shakti, it participated in SIAL 2022 (an international food exhibition in Paris) and the International Trade Fair 2022 in New Delhi. It was recognized as one of the top three women SHGs (WSHGs) in Odisha during the Make in Odisha Conclave 2022. 

SHG members have also shared their experiences during a virtual NITI Aayog conference in New Delhi. The members also trained the kitchen staff of CRPF, Odisha, in millet-based recipes.

The WSHG also provides training on making millet-based recipes to different WSHGs on demand, which adds to its income. “We aim to develop a wide range of nutritious millet products targeted at different consumer segments and focus on branding and expanding into international markets,” Prema says.

(Malay Ray is a Rourkela-based journalist. He writes on social issues, human interest stories, startups, the environment, women empowerment and tribal life)

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