The Chief Minister's Office of Jharkhand announced on Tuesday, 7 July 2026 that Amrapali mangoes grown in Deoghar under Chief Minister Hemant Soren's Birsa Harit Gram Yojana are now being sold at the Lulu Mall in Dubai, marking the scheme's first confirmed international retail presence. The CMO's post stated: 'बाबा नगरी देवघर में उपजाए गए आम्रपाली आम अब दुबई के लुलु मॉल में धूम मचा रहे हैं' — ('Amrapali mangoes grown in the holy town of Deoghar are now creating a buzz at Lulu Mall, Dubai'). The office credited the achievement to the hard work of the state's farmers and to CM Soren's long-term vision for rural transformation.

Context

Deoghar, known as Baba Dham, is a district in eastern Jharkhand where Amrapali mango cultivation has been scaled up under the Birsa Harit Gram Yojana. The scheme promotes fruit-tree plantations on village and community land with the twin goals of expanding green cover and providing supplementary income to rural households. The Jharkhand State Livelihood Promotion Society (JSLPS), the nodal agency coordinating farmer-producer groups and horticulture value chains, is tagged in the official post alongside the District Collectorate, Deoghar.

Policy Backdrop

The Birsa Harit Gram Yojana builds on the foundation laid by the National Horticulture Mission (2005), which first introduced Amrapali mango clusters across Jharkhand's districts. Jharkhand has long sought to diversify its mineral-dependent rural economy by scaling horticulture on non-arable and community lands. State schemes have increasingly targeted export-oriented varieties and tie-ups with international retailers in order to raise farmer realisations — a strategy that this Dubai placement now validates in practice. The Lulu Group, a UAE-based retail chain operating Lulu Mall in Dubai, has in recent years expanded its sourcing of Indian fresh produce, including mangoes, as part of a broader India-Gulf agricultural trade corridor that eastern Indian states have been keen to tap.

Stakeholders and Impact

The primary beneficiaries are mango growers in Deoghar and the broader community of rural households enrolled under the Birsa Harit Gram Yojana. An international retail listing at a high-footfall venue such as Lulu Mall, Dubai signals premium market access, which typically translates into higher farm-gate prices. JSLPS-coordinated farmer-producer groups are positioned as the supply-chain backbone linking smallholders in Jharkhand to the Gulf market. The development also carries symbolic weight for the state government, demonstrating that tribal and rural welfare schemes can generate commercially viable, globally competitive output.

What's Next

Attention will now turn to the volume and regularity of subsequent shipments and whether a formal agreement between JSLPS and the Lulu Group is formalised. Observers will also watch whether other Jharkhand farmer-producer organisations are brought into the state's export-promotion framework on the back of this success. If sustained, the model could serve as a template for other eastern Indian states seeking to connect smallholder horticulture with Gulf and Southeast Asian retail chains.