Chitra Bahadur Chaudhary of Beldandi Rural Municipality-3, Vaibaha, has been operating a threshing and grinding mill for a decade, which has helped him generate monthly earnings over Rs 100,000.
According to Chaudhary, he availed a loan of NRs two million from the Creative Savings and Loan Co-operative to operate the mill. The mill has equipment for making wheat flour, extracting mustard oil, and threshing paddy to extract rice.
“We have repaid Rs 1.8 million of the loan taken from the cooperative with the income, with only Rs 200,000 left to be repaid, says Chadhary, which he plans to repay in two to three months.”
Stating that he used to spend his days in the fields in the past due to lack of money to start a business, Chaudhary said that the grain produced from the fields was only enough for food, and there was a shortage for expenses. He said that after joining the cooperative and taking a loan and operating the mill, there was no shortage of money.
“We generate Rs 150,000 per month,” he said, adding that he saves around Rs 70,000 per month after deducting the wages of the workers working in the mill, equipment maintenance, and electricity bills. According to Chaudhary, he deposits the saved amount at the cooperative.
Wth the income from the mill, he has purchased four kaththas of land in the village and his two sons are studying higher education in Dhangadhi. He informed that since the border area is close, citizens of the Indian village of Tatarganj also come to the mill for grinding.
Chaudhary said that his mill grinds around four quintals of Indian rice on a daily basis and around 10 quintals of rice from both Nepali and Indian customers. “There is a rush of customers as there are no other grinding mills nearby,” says Chaudhary.
“Indians come here to grind and crush mustard oil,” adds Chaudhary. “They come here because it is cheaper here than the prices charged by mills in India.” He said that if the ‘bran’ is left at the mill, they grind the rice without charging any fee. Chaudhary’s mill charges NRs 1.5 per kilogram for grinding wheat, Rs. 2.5 for corn, and Rs. 7 for extracting mustard oil, and earns additional income by selling the bran and the cake (dregs) left after threshing rice.
Chaudhary plans to buy land in the market area and build a concrete house using the money he earns. He believes that the mill will have no shortage of customers as it will provide services to the customers whenever they want.
