Barabanki-based Swaraj Herbal Plants is helping farmers to diversify agricultural activities with aromatic herbal oils

Barabanki district near Lucknow lies at the very heart of the Awadh region of Uttar Pradesh. It is famous for its mentha farming and oil distillation. In 2003, Bhupendra Singh (64) established Swaraj Herbal Plants to encourage rural entrepreneurship in this region and to help farmers diversify agricultural activities through the use of aromatic herbal oils.

‍The company helps farmers by promoting diversification in traditional methods and by distilling the oil from aromatic and medicinal herbs. These oils are in huge demand in the market and can be sold at a good price by farmers. It also encourages farmers by providing them with separate low-cost efficient distillation units to improve production capabilities and living standards.

‍Swaraj Herbal Plants is one of the leading manufacturers of distillation and solvent extraction units, and fractional distillation columns for oil extraction in India with the value addition of natural plant produce. Its motto is to provide customers with economical and efficient solutions for extracting/making oil, powder or gel from medicinal herbs and flowers.

‍The origin story

‍It was in early 1982 that a small distillation plant for Mentha oil was built in Barabanki with just 2 workers. Today, with an authorized capital of Rs. 15 lakh and an annual turnover of Rs 1.51 crore, the company provides employment to around 50 people.

Singh holds a degree in mechanical engineering and has four decades of practical in-depth knowledge in this field. He gained vast experience in executing various turnkey projects in the mechanical and agricultural arena. His aim is to uplift rural agriculturists and farmers by bridging the gap between the farmers and new age technology.

‍Current markets

‍Bhupendra says, “The Indian farmer is our first and topmost customer. Our market covers the farmers in my state and well as the farmers of Nepal. We also serve industries working in the field of aromatic herbs, oil and related products. Currently, we are exporting in more than 10 countries including Germany, Nepal, Bhutan, Oman, Kuwait, UAE, Sudan, Papua New Guinea, Syria, Thailand and Zambia.”

“We have a niche in the domestic as well the overseas market, where we have won the trust of worldwide customers. We have a large clientele list including labs like CIMAP, IIIM, NBRI, institutions like IIT Delhi and IIT BHU and corporates like Coca-Cola, ITC, Dabur, Emami, Patanjali,” he adds.

‍Key milestones

‍In 2005, the company installed a distillation plant in the herbal garden at the Rashtrapati Bhawan by the help of CIMAP, Lucknow. CIMAP’s strong recommendation brought laurels for the company.

In March 2008, the company achieved a benchmark of being selected by CIMAP to get the know-how and design of distillation and extraction plants for manufacturing the most efficient and economical plants for the herbal processing industry.

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A mobile distillation unit.

In September 2009, the company got the license of manufacturing of an Apparatus Decortication of Oil Fruits/Seeds for separation of shell and kernel from the IIT Delhi and also started exporting various range of products abroad.

‍Major roadblocks

‍Bhupendra strongly feels that the company’s geographical location and the distance from the raw material procurement centres hamper the growth of the business.

Talking about his initial days he says, “In 2003 we were like any other cottage industry and being a new start up the rural people around us who were mostly farmers and agriculturists, and were unaware and unexposed to the latest technology. They did not understand the technical advancement of our products and services against the local products and refused to even try our products.”

It is difficult for him to keep up with the international standards as the highly scientific machines are very expensive and there are not enough financial resources available.

‍He says, “The least that the government can do to help us is to provide realistic, logical schemes for the farmers and to reduce the percentage of GST to the minimum tax slab.”

Future plans

‍Bhupendra dreams to make Swaraj Herbal Plants the flagship company in the international herbal distillation sector, and also wants to run the production process continuously. He says, “In order to make a mark in this field, constant research and analysing is necessary in order to deliver the right products and services to the customers.”

‍(This story is published in partnership with the MSMEs Ministry to showcase success stories of SMEs)