A Tk 1.4 lakh motor-driven dhenki: Tk 30,000-35,000 a month selling dhenki-husked rice
A computer engineer in Gaibandha left his job during the pandemic and built an electric dhenki. Selling dhenki-husked rice online for two years, he earns Tk 30,000-35,000 a month.
A young man from Khamarboali village, Gaibandha Sadar, finished computer science and engineering at Islamic University, Kushtia, in 2016 and took a job at a private company. He came home at the start of the pandemic in 2020. Seeing the talk about immunity, he reasoned that more nutritious rice would help, and built an electric-motor dhenki. A four-horsepower motor drives two dhenkis at once. With the structure, it cost Tk 1.4 lakh. It can husk one maund of paddy an hour and run eight hours a day. He sells dhenki-husked aman rice at Tk 88 a kg, promoting it on social media, taking online and phone orders and sending by courier. If someone brings a maund of paddy, he charges Tk 150 to husk it, against Tk 30 at a rice mill. Having sold this rice for two years, he earns Tk 30,000-35,000 a month. He bought 22 decimals of land near his home for a future project. By 2025 he wants 50 electric dhenkis creating work for 200-250 people, and is looking for investors or an interest-free loan.
Lessons
- 1.Instead of competing with big rice mills, a distinct product like dhenki-husked rice can find online buyers.
- 2.Building a small machine yourself keeps capital low; here the motor and structure cost Tk 1.4 lakh.
- 3.With a limit of one maund an hour, growing income needs more dhenkis and more investment.
We published this with the person's permission, without revealing who they are.
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