From local ponds to global markets, Session 4 explored how India can position Makhana as the next big export story. With India producing 90–95% of global supply and Bihar contributing the lion’s share, the session focused on branding, compliance, and institutional backing for global competitiveness.

𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 & 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬:

Harsh Wardhan, 𝐅𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰, ICRIER

“𝑬𝒙𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 1–2% 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒉𝒖𝒈𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒅. 𝑾𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒂, 𝒎𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕-𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆.”

✔ Called for GI branding, export hubs, and mechanised processing to meet quality standards

Col Nitin Sehgal, Vishisht Seva Medal 𝐒𝐞𝐡𝐠𝐚𝐥, 𝐂𝐄𝐎, 𝐍𝐃𝐅𝐂(𝐈)

“𝑴𝒂𝒌𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒂 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒔 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚, 𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒚, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒎 𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒈𝒍𝒐𝒃𝒂𝒍 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒐𝒐𝒅.”

✔ Urged stakeholders to join NDFC(I) for policy advocacy, market linkages, and value addition initiatives

𝐌𝐫. Sumit Saran, 𝐃𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫, 𝐒𝐒 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬

“𝑮𝒍𝒐𝒃𝒂𝒍 𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝑨𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝑷𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒐𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑪𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒏 𝑾𝒂𝒍𝒏𝒖𝒕𝒔 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒃𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈—𝑴𝒂𝒌𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒂 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆.”

✔ Recommended brand ambassador campaigns, generic promotion, and market research

𝐌𝐫. Arijit Dey, 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐟 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫, The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry

“𝑹𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒈𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑴𝒂𝒌𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒂 𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒏𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒌𝒆𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒖𝒎 𝒈𝒍𝒐𝒃𝒂𝒍 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒕𝒔.”

✔ Highlighted Bengal’s readiness for processing and export hub development

𝐌𝐫. Ketan Bengani, 𝐃𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫, 𝐒𝐚𝐭𝐯𝐢𝐤𝐢 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬

“𝑨 10-𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒅𝒎𝒂𝒑 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆, 𝒕𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂’𝒔 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔.”

✔ Advocated for NABL-certified labs, phytosanitary compliance, and SOP-driven processes

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