Arun Dev Builders' MD to foray into food processing

The Managing Director of Arun Dev Builders, Manoj Bhardwaj, is planning to set up a food processing plant in rural areas of Central India with an aim to boost agricultural exports and investment for the betterment of Indian farmers and agriculture.

As with his assertions and ideas with real estate, Arun Dev's focus has once again moved to the lower income groups. This time it is the farmers who would be the beneficiaries of the group's initiatives.

"Farmers are often denied their rights to earn. The ones who spend their sweat and time earn in in bits as compared to how it is sold in the market. Therefore, my aim is to help them not only in terms of farming techniques but also in terms of industrial skills," expressed Manoj Bharadwaj.

He added, "I am simply doing what I have been doing. For me this is nothing new, I am building, with a difference," said Manoj Bharadwaj when asked about his decision to foray into the new sector. His endeavor consists of exporting processed foods like Indian spices and dry fruits which has high demand overseas.

The projects include establishing a community by bringing farmers and scientists. This will provide a scope of co-learning, whilst farmers will benefit from scientific aids in terms of harvesting as well as other agricultural practices. Educating farmers about the new techniques of cultivation and increasing the fertility of land, crop productivity will increase and the farmers will directly benefit from employment in offseason. It is likely that the scientific techniques of using fertilisers, insecticides, and pesticides can drastically improve the agricultural output of poor farmers in the Central Indian belt.

With a state-of-the-art Food Processing Plant, under the Make in India Initiative, the agro-produce will be processed and directly sent for export.

Manoj Bhardwaj is hopeful that the rise in exports and investments through the food processing unit will pave the way for the development in the cottage and small-scale industries, and create a whole new real estate market in rural areas. This can raise the income of farmers and employ them during the off seasons.

Arun Dev Builders' MD will soon initiate the development of clusters across the targeted regions and help farmers be independent of growing crops. Further, later initiatives will include overall development in the regions in the form of infrastructure, which will be supported by the expansion of food processing, packaging, and logistics sectors would come up at these regions, sources said. The company has plans to set up more such agro-industrial clusters in other parts of the country, in years to come.