Establishing integrated businesses in agriculture and sports

The young and dynamic, Ritwik Bahuguna, has businesses in the agriculture and sports domains. An alumni of Shri Ram College, Delhi University, the 36-year-old is an economist by training from the United Kingdom. Ritwik started his professional career with the Strategy team at Deloitte and went on to work with prominent organizations in the infrastructure and finance domains before embarking on his entrepreneurial journey. Ritwik hails from Uttarakhand and was a former national level football player.

Ritwik’s journey in the agribusiness sector started when he worked closely with central government ministries (Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Ministry of Rural Development etc.) and their corresponding departments in various Indian states on policy formulation and large-scale program implementation. He also served as advisor to governments of various African countries and worked with the World Bank Group on multiple agri and dairy development programs in India and Africa. His experience in policy formulation made him realize agriculture, dairy and food processing sectors had the potential to augment the livelihoods of millions of farmers and offer viable business opportunities. Thus began his entrepreneurial journey in this space.

His consulting team at Wazir Advisors has advised some of India’s largest food companies (Patanjali, Cremica, Haldiram’s etc.), governments and agri-tech start-ups. The trading arm, Rajguru Group, is one of the fastest growing agri-commodity trading houses in India. It procures staples and pulses from more than 50,000 farmers annually to sell them in domestic and international markets. The projects company (in collaboration with Urja/Doshi Group), Adopt Agro, has not only aided in establishment one of the best food parks in India but is also in the process of setting up various large-scale organized farming and food processing projects in the African continent.

His not-for-profit social enterprise, Roots Foundation, was established in 2012 with the vision of designing and operationalizing BOTTOM UP interventions for enhancing the livelihoods of the most underprivileged. The Foundation works in 15+ Indian states and has top corporation partners like Hyundai Motors, Tata Trusts, K.K. Birla Society, Acuity Knowledge Partners, Exide Batteries etc. It has positively impacted the lives of over 10 lakh farmers, 10,000 school going children and 5,000 rural women. The Foundation’s sports academies and initiatives consistently churn out national-level sports players.

No business model can flourish and scale up without having an integral component of responsibility towards the society at large.

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Ritwik’s impact investment arm focuses on investing in both new-age and traditional businesses in the agriculture, food and sports sectors. These include Curry Fresh USA (sustainable ready-to-eat food brand), Pranjal Fresh Dairy Products (Uttarakhand-based dairy products brand), On Track Sports Technologies (JV between Ritwik and Lodhi Sports, a 45-year-old sports company) and Games Forest Club (Gurugram’s first private state-of-the-art sports complex). While he mentors these start-ups in their business expansion plans, these investments and his advisory role keep him updated on new-age products, services and business plans.

THE WAY FORWARD

The agribusiness sector in India and Africa are not only highly fragmented but also face logistical challenges. The sports sector in India has still not seen major investments beyond cricket. These challenges imply significant business opportunity.

What has set him apart are two key traits – his constant effort to amalgamate societal welfare with business enterprise and the substantial time he spends at the grassroots in the country’s hinterland to understand real problems and pilot their practical solutions. He firmly believes that no business model can flourish and scale up without having an integral component of responsibility towards the society at large.

His strength lies in working smartly with his lean but highly qualified team which comes from prominent institutions such as Delhi University, IIM-Ahmedabad, G.B. Pant Agriculture University, NDRI, National Institutes of Fashion Technology etc.

Ritwik’s unique experience makes him understand the needs of governments, businesses and communities. As his organizations expand their footprint in India and Africa, he plans to continue galvanizing all stakeholders to create new, viable business plans with large scale social impact.

(A marketing initiative by Open Avenues)

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