Surachita Agro FPC exports 20 tonnes of bananas to Dubai under Maharashtra’s SMART project.
Surachita Agro Producer Company Ltd (SAPCL), which is headquartered in Karkambh of Maharashtra’s Solapur district and registered in 2019, has dispatched its first 20-tonne export consignment of bananas to Dubai. The shipment was facilitated in partnership with Pure Planet India Pvt Ltd.
Quoting Ratnadeep More, CEO of SAPCL, a media statement said: “In the beginning, we assumed dry raisins would be our anchor commodity, given Solapur’s proximity to grape-growing regions. However, field surveys showed limited market demand. Even fresh grape trading didn’t work in our favour. That failure pushed us to re-examine our strengths.”
It was during this search for a sustainable alternative that the team discovered the expanding potential of banana cultivation. Farmers began adopting banana as a primary crop, and soon, Surachita Agro onboarded 350 dedicated shareholders. Daily harvesting volumes of 8-10 tonnes helped the farmer producer company (FPC) generate enough throughput to justify the development of a pack-house facility.
Making the difference
To scale higher, the company applied for a processing unit under the Government of Maharashtra’s SMART (Hon Balasaheb Thackeray Agribusiness and Rural Transformation) project, proposing value-added products such as banana powder and vacuum-fried banana chips. But even with processing capacity in sight, the FPC did not have reliable buyers.
“That’s where Palladium made the difference. We were struggling to find market linkages on our own. Palladium helped us navigate buyer networks, understand export requirements, and connect us with Pure Planet India Pvt Ltd Today’s export to Dubai is a direct outcome of that support,” More said.
Encouraged by the progress, the FPC now plans to process lower-grade bananas which are often wasted at the farm-gate into ripe banana powder, raw banana powder, and vacuum-fried chips to ensure value addition and reduced post-harvest losses.
“Right now, we are connected with around 5,000-6,000 farmers. In the next few years, we aim to bring 30,000 to 40,000 farmers under banana cultivation,” More said, emphasising the company’s long-term vision of creating a vertically integrated, farmer-centric banana value chain in Solapur.
Published on December 1, 2025
