Ex-banker grows saffron in a room in Dehradun; sells at Rs5 lakh per kg

After working with some of India’s top companies and as the Chief Operating Officer of CAMS Insurance Repository Services Ltd in Mumbai, Avanish Goel wanted to quit the corporate world and return to his roots. In a career spanning almost three decades, he worked for HDFC ERGO, ICICI Lombard, PSU Steel Authority of India (SAIL) and other companies. But after decades of corporate jobs, the home was calling.

“I belong to Haridwar (in Uttarakhand) and wanted to take a break from corporate life. I was keen to do something of my own that could also benefit others,” Avanish tells 30Stades.

At around the same time, Avanish’s wife, Dr Archana Kamble, received an offer to work as the principal of a medical college in Dehradun. “That allowed me to bid bye to the corporate world. Dehradun and Haridwar are twin cities, and I could regularly visit my mother, nearing 80, once I moved there,” says Avanish, who completed his mechanical engineering from Harcourt Butler Technological Institute, Kanpur and MBA from IIM Calcutta. 

Roots of entrepreneurship

In January 2019, the couple shifted to Dehradun. Since Avanish had not firmed up any concrete plans about starting something new, he took up offers to be a visiting faculty at MBA colleges. 

“It was immensely fulfilling to give back to society in the form of my experiences and learning shared with my students,” he says, adding that it continued until the Coronavirus hit in 2020.

“During the lockdown, I wanted to keep myself occupied. My research about what could be done indoors led me to saffron farming and I liked the concept for multiple reasons.”

Avanish says four factors made saffron his choice for indoor farming. “It is good for health, has a long shelf life, and it is exotic and expensive, commanding good market rates.”

To top it all, he discovered the huge demand-supply gap, particularly for Kashmiri saffron, which is considered better quality than saffron from other countries. Kashmiri saffron is known for its strong flavour, rich red colour and high crocin content, which enhance its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. However, its production is declining.

Also Read: This woman grows saffron in 100 sq ft room, sells at Rs10 lakh per kg

According to the Ministry of Science and Technology, “the annual demand for saffron in India is 100 tonnes but its average production is only about six to seven tonnes per year.” This has made indoor farming of Kashmiri saffron lucrative.

Setting up an indoor saffron farming unit

After his initial research, Avanish set up a 200 sq ft lab on the roof of his house for aeroponic saffron cultivation, where nutrients are supplied to plants through mist sprays without soil or any other medium. The bulbs or seeds of saffron are put in vertically stacked trays for growth (vertical farming).

“Saffron farming requires monitoring of four parameters in a controlled environment – temperature, humidity, lighting and CO2. With these parameters, you can grow saffron aeroponically in any part of the world,” the urban farmer says.

Avanish went to Pampore in Kashmir, India’s saffron bowl, to procure the bulbs. “I purchased 500 kg of bulbs at Rs600 per kg,” he says.

The bulbs were planted in August 2022 and began yielding saffron flowers in late October. He named his firm Indigold and sells saffron under the Vertigold brand. “I harvested around 500 gm of saffron in the first year though the production can be higher if one can avoid some mistakes I made,” he says. 

Also Read: Five farmers earning lakhs from a room in their house

Commercial setup and marketing 

After harvest, Avanish put the same bulbs in the soil where each bulb yields two or more daughter seeds. They are ready for transplantation in the indoor lab by the end of July. 

“For the first two cycles, in 2022 and 2023, I was focused on collecting data and refining the processes,” he says.

Once he felt he had discovered all the mistakes, Avanish invested in a commercial indoor farming setup. “I can say that with 2,000 sq ft of indoor saffron cultivation capacity, my facility is the biggest of its kind in the world,” he says.

Being an engineer, he did not have to hire much outside help for the unit. 

“I prepared all the drawings and executed my own design costing Rs30 lakh for a 2,000 sq ft unit. If you ask anyone, the cost will be at least Rs60 lakh for a similar set-up,” he says. 

Avanish used PP sheets instead of PUF panels and converted two air conditioners of nine tonnes each into chillers. “In the last season, I used only 500 sq ft of this 2,000 sq ft area for saffron cultivation,” he says. 

The production was a whopping 6 kg from 500 sq ft. Avanish currently retails saffron at Rs 350 per gm to Rs 500 per gm depending on the order size. His brand Vertigold is available on Flipkart and Indigold website. 

However, Avanish advices people to first discover a market for their saffron before investing heavily in a unit. “If your marketing arrangements are not in place, you will end up with unsold inventory and not recover your investments. So draw up your plans well,” he says.

More interestingly, he offers training in indoor saffron farming to his students, who are from the USA, Canada, UK, Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa, Nigeria, and Dubai apart from India. “I have pre-recorded online sessions spread over 5-6 hours. Students can note down their queries and then connect with me for solutions. They can return with queries anytime and visit my facility at their convenience. I have trained more than 75 students so far,” he adds.

(Rashmi Pratap is a Mumbai- based journalist specialising in financial, business and socio-economic reporting)

Also Read: Two Haryana brothers grow saffron in 225 sq ft room; sell at Rs5 lakh per kg

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