Interviewtimes 
Mr. Arun Kumar Agrawal is the Founder and Managing Director of SHREE AMBICA AGRO INDUSTRIES PVT LTD. Mr. Agrawal has persued B.Com (Hons.) and graduated from Rajendra College, Balangir. He started his business at the age of 18 by setting up an Oil mill. He is the founder and Managing Director of Shree Ambica Agro Industries Pvt. Ltd, a pioneer of Cotton Ginning Unit in Odisha, which was set up in the year 1998. During his journey he visited every single cotton cultivating village and encouraged the farmers to grow more cotton by conducting local meetings, which began the Cotton revolution in Balangir & Kalahandi District. In the year 2011 he set-up another cotton ginning unit named Shree Samleswari Cotton Industries. Both of his sons Mohit Agrawal and Rohit Agrawal joined his businness and also his better half Nitu Agrawal is also assisting him in the business. Due to his hard work and efforts Mr. Arun kumar Agrawal has earned a high reputation not only among the business community, but also among the farmers and the society. he has distributed more than one lakh of banana, papaya and drumsticks saplings to farmers. Also Shree Ambica Agro Industries Pvt. Ltd. has also been awarded as the highest sales tax paying unit in the Balangir Range (comprising of 3 districts) for two consecutive years. Apart from that, he has been conducting village wise training for the Soil Health Improvement of the region since 2010 and successfully motivated the farmer for digging compost pits. He has been nominated as the Chairman to the state owned ITI College in Balangir. Also Mr. Agrawal has been awarded with many prestigious awards. The Interview Times had a conversation with him through questionnaire. Below are the answers he responded to The Interview Times questionnaire – 
Q1- You have been into entrepreneurship from a very young age? How challenging it was for you and how did you manage the entrepreneurship effectively?
Answer – I hail from a business family, engaged in business since 1942. We had an oil mill which I was running during my matriculation, soon after my graduation I setup an automatic Oil mill plant in Balangir for manufacturing of Groundnut Oil & Til Oil. Our brand was highly regarded as we supplied oil to each and every places of the country, covering from Punjab to Kerala. I have launched my own brand of Ambica Til Oil for retailing in Odisha and Chhattissgarh. Our brand was the bestselling brand due to the quality & purity, however, as margins squeezed, numerous malpractices like adulteration started in the industry which was never acceptable to us leading to shut down of our oil manufacturing.
Q2- What inspire you for setting up a Cotton Ginning Unit in your area and how difficult was it and how did you overcome the difficulties?
Answer – I had visited almost all the oil seeds producing villages for procurement of Oil seeds. On my visit, I came to know about cultivation of Kapas (raw cotton) and worked on it. Although, there was sufficient scope for cultivation in the undivided district of Kalahandi-Balangir-Koraput, it was not feasible due to the lack of marketing support with no functional Ginning Unit in the region.
It inspired me to explore the field and I started the 1st Ginning Unit of Balangir District during the year 1998. At that time, there was only 1 private Ginning unit running in Rayagada and 1 unit in Kesinga run by Spinfed, Govt. of Odisha. As the existing units suffered with managerial & financial challenges, Cotton farmers lost confidence for cotton production. At this time, around 3000 – 5000 acre of land was used for cultivated of Raw Cotton in Balangir and Kalahandi District.
After setting up a small unit in Balangir, I started visiting the cotton producing villages of Balangir and Kalahandi Districts and conducted Village level meetings to promote the cultivation of Kapas from numerous remote areas. Traveling to villages with no roads, no electricity and abysmal connectivity was one of the biggest challenge to convince the farmers & get their produce to the factory point.
We had promised the farmers that we will support them to market their produce, but we had no one to sell our finished products. In order to market our finished products, I personally visited numerous Spinning Units, wandering in streets of Coimbatore for months approaching mills to buy our product. Our simplicity & commitment stood us out with other suppliers of such mills & year after year we built a reputation & a relationship which are still strong till date. Today mills all over India & even outside India like Bangladesh, our brand is well demanded.
Q3- Can you please elaborate the journey of your success? What was your motivation for the success you garnered? Can you tell us that in details?
Answer – We were awarded as a Pioneer Unit by the Government of Odisha for our contribution in the industry. My policy of honesty and transparent trade has made me successful for which I was rewarded with the confidence of farmers. As the farmers were able to market their produce, they gradually started increasing the area of cultivation. Initial years were tough but with improved economic condition as commercial crop cultivation gained popularity, Raw Cotton Cultivation witnessed multi-fold increase in area, within 3 years time the area of Balangir District increased from mere 1500 acres to 30000 acres and by 2003 it was 50000 acres. Presently, it stands at a whopping 300000+ acres. Our small unit was soon upgraded to a composite unit with state of art facilities & since then we have been recognized in numerous State & National level forums for our business conduct & ginning & pressing practices. Today, we represent Odisha Cotton as the Secretary of the Cotton Association of Odisha & currently an active member of National Crop Committee, acting through The Cotton Association of India. The revolution in Cotton Cultivation started and going on in its full strength.
Q4- What things you like to do in your leisure time and what hobbies do you have?
Answer – Apart from my work, I like to travel places & visit pilgrimages. After hours I usually like to listen to songs or catch up on an interesting series online.
Q5- You are also involved and carrying out many Social work activities, what made your mind to go for it?
Answer – Contribution to the society comes as a moral responsibility to me which I prefer not to boast about. However, I feel that it is my duty to enrich the ecosystem which fuels my growth as a businessman and as a person.
Q6- What is your future vision?
Answer – My vision when I started doing business was to uplift the lives of my farmers & my stakeholders associated with me putting Odisha Cotton in the World Map. Back in the day, Export in textile was bonded by Quota system, which needed prior approval from the Office of Textile Commissioner Mumbai. I personally got an export license sanctioned and shipped the first consignment of Cotton from Odisha.Even our consignment was the 1st consignment shipped to Bangladesh after the removal of Quota System.
Now that KBK region is out & away from the grip of poverty, known for producing high quality Cotton. Presently, Odisha Cotton is the first choice of buyers in Bangladesh, a dream which I have seen fulfill. I envision Odisha to embody the ideology of Farm2Fashion (F2F) which led Gujarat to be a leader of textile & follow the footsteps to become the fastest growing textile avenue in the country.
