Innovation: Burning rice husk was causing pollution, but by doing this we earned 20 lakh rupees in just one year, know how

New Delhi. This is the story of Bibhu Sahu. But it is a little different from other stories. Bibhu is from Kalahandi of Odisha which was once in the news due to hunger. Bibhu was a teacher in the same Kalahandi but in 2007 he left his job to do paddy business. Till here everything was fine but a new turn came in his story when he did an innovation and started earning 20 lakh rupees annually from it. The story of Bibhu who turned rice husk into “black gold” has been published by the website “The Better India”. Know from the words of Bibhu, the owner of Haripriya Agro Industries, how he turned the rice husk that was being burnt in fire into a source of income…
“Kalahandi is the second largest producer of rice in Odisha. About 50 lakh quintals of paddy are cultivated here every year. After the paddy business, I also decided to enter the rice mill business in the year 2014. There are dozens of para blowing companies here, which treat rice. This produces husk on a large scale. My mill alone produces about 3 tons of husk every day. Here, usually, the husk was thrown in an open space or burnt. After the wind blew, it caused a lot of problems in breathing and eyes. It caused a lot of damage to the environment. Many people of the locality complained about this. Seeing the increasing complaints of the people, we started packing the husk and keeping it in the warehouse. But, soon there was a shortage of space.
Nothing made sense. Then, I did some research. I found out that rice husk can be used as a thermal insulator in the steel industry. It contains 85% silica. So it is very good for use in steel refractories. This way, when burnt husk is used in boilers, it does not cause much pollution due to high temperatures.
The research was done but the real problem was its implementation. Then I somehow raised money and also visited an Egyptian steel company. I gave my proposal to that company with a sample. They showed their interest and asked if it could be made available to them in powder form. I said that it would be difficult, because it could fly in the air. Then, after a lot of deliberation, it was decided that the husk would be converted into a pellet and exported.
I had talked to the company but a new challenge came up. I did not know how to make pellets from it. So I called experts from many states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, West Bengal. But, nothing came out of it. I also contacted a poultry farm to understand the process of making pellets. But, this effort also went in vain.
For the next few months, I devoted all my resources to research. I felt my concept was not practical and I almost gave up. But, at the same time, one of my staff asked for some time to find a solution. After this, he went to his village and came with four people. Then, with his help, we did some experiments and we succeeded. Initially, it took a few weeks to make the pellets in the right size. Our pellets ranged in size from 1 mm to 10 mm. Now to sell this consignment, I wrote emails to companies in France, Germany, Italy, South Korea, Australia, Taiwan and the United Kingdom. Finally, our first consignment went to Saudi Arabia in 2019.
Companies liked this product very much because the pellets were burnt very well. Also, they were very cheap and their quality was good. In the year 2019, I earned Rs 20 lakh by selling 100 tonnes of pellets. In this way, we converted husk into black gold.

Tags: New Business Idea, Success Story