3 Friends Help Rajasthan Farmers Build Rs 1.3 Crore Oil Firm

In rural Rajasthan, farmers were leaving home for low wages while their children dropped out of school to help. Three friends decided this didn't have to be the story.

Satyam Bhandari grew up watching his mother fight for financial independence to give him a better life. That memory stayed with him through college and beyond.

After graduation, Satyam worked with tribal communities and saw families choosing survival over education every single day. He realized creating sustainable livelihoods was the only way to break the cycle.

In 2021, Satyam reunited with friends Rohit and Mohit to launch Heart in Hills, buying millets directly from farmers at fairer prices. But seasonal supply issues made the model hard to sustain.

During the second COVID wave, they noticed rising demand for cold-pressed oils. In February 2022, they pivoted and launched Foreka in Rajasthan with a Rs 22 lakh grant from The Buddha Institute.

The key difference? Farmers would own the processing machines themselves. Working with NGOs like SRIJAN, the team treated farmers as genuine partners, not just suppliers.

Their first major order nearly destroyed them. They fulfilled a Rs 6 to 7 lakh shipment but received only Rs 1.5 lakh, creating a Rs 4 lakh shortfall that forced them to borrow Rs 15 lakh from friends and family.

But they kept going. Foreka's revenue jumped from Rs 60 lakh in the 2023-24 fiscal year to Rs 1.3 crore in just the first half of 2024-25.

The cold-pressed method preserves all natural nutrients in the oils. More importantly, it preserves dignity and opportunity for farming families who were once leaving home to survive.

The Ripple Effect

When farmers become business partners instead of just suppliers, everyone wins. Children stay in school because their parents earn stable income at home, creating a foundation for generational change that ripples far beyond oil production.

Today, what began as three friends trying to help has become a blueprint for rural empowerment, proving that fair business practices aren't just ethical but profitable too.