PMFME scheme: Hubballi woman entrepreneur builds oil brand, creates local jobs
Synopsis
A family-run cooking oil unit in Hubballi has quietly become one of the PMFME scheme's more tangible success stories — absorbing unemployed youth and women post-Covid, diversifying into cattle feed, and distributing across Karnataka. It is a ground-level proof point for what credit-linked formalisation can do for India's micro food processing sector.
Key Takeaways
Natura Ventures , based in Vishweshwar Nagar, Hubballi , produces pure cooking oil, coconut oil, and cattle feed under the PMFME scheme .
Entrepreneur Medha Kanagil manages the unit with her husband, son, and more than 10 staff members .
Financial assistance from State Bank of India (SBI) helped expand operations and generate local employment.
The enterprise has provided jobs to unemployed youth and women, particularly in the post- Covid-19 period.
Cattle feed production using oilseed-based products runs into hundreds of tonnes, diversifying revenue streams.
Products are distributed across Karnataka , including Hubballi.
Natura Ventures, a micro food processing unit in Hubballi, Karnataka, has become a model success story under the Centre's Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PMFME) scheme, expanding production capacity and generating employment for local youth and women in the post-Covid period. The enterprise, backed by financial support from the State Bank of India (SBI), now supplies cooking oil and coconut oil across Karnataka.
How Natura Ventures Took Shape
Based in Vishweshwar Nagar, Hubballi, Natura Ventures is managed by entrepreneur Medha Kanagil alongside her husband Mohan Kanagil, her son, and a team of more than 10 staff members. The unit specialises in pure cooking oil and coconut oil production, distributing its products across the state. The enterprise has also diversified into cattle feed preparation using oilseed-based products, with output running into hundreds of tonnes.
What the PMFME Scheme Provided
Medha Kanagil credited the PMFME scheme with providing significant support to the business. SBI's financial assistance, she said, was instrumental in scaling up operations and creating new jobs. 'PMFME scheme under the Central government has helped a lot. SBI's financial assistance is helpful. A lot of people were given jobs after Covid-19. Women who were unemployed were given jobs. Really good work done by Central government,' she said.
Mohan Kanagil echoed the sentiment, noting that the scheme had made self-employment more accessible while enabling the unit to absorb unemployed young men and women. 'The hope of giving employment to the unemployed young men and women has been fulfilled. This is a rewarding job,' he said. He also pointed to a post-pandemic shift in consumer awareness around cooking oil quality as a business driver. 'After Covid-19, there were a lot of health problems among people. It is medical advice that use of cooking oil should be good for health. So they started making good oil for good health,' he added.
Employment and Social Impact
Aman, CEO of Natura Ventures, described the enterprise's work as both a social service and a health-promotion initiative. 'It is a social service as well as a good way to good health. A lot of unemployed youths were given jobs. This is one of the best schemes of Central government,' he said. The unit's expansion has created a direct livelihood pipeline for residents of Hubballi, with women who were out of work during and after the pandemic among the primary beneficiaries.
Broader Significance of the PMFME Scheme
The PMFME scheme, launched by the Centre, is designed to formalise and scale India's vast unorganised micro food processing sector by providing credit-linked subsidies and capacity-building support. Natura Ventures illustrates how the scheme can convert informal kitchen-scale operations into structured enterprises capable of state-wide distribution. This comes amid a wider push to revive rural and semi-urban livelihoods in the post-Covid economic recovery. The Hubballi unit's trajectory — from a family-run setup to a multi-employee operation with a diversified product portfolio — points to the scheme's potential when government support and institutional credit align.
Point of View
From local to state-wide, and from subsistence to employment generation. Hubballi's example ticks those boxes — but it also raises the question of how replicable this outcome is without consistent SBI credit access and active district-level handholding. The scheme's scale ambition will only be validated when stories like this stop being exceptions and become the norm across Karnataka's tier-2 and tier-3 towns.
NationPress
4 Sept 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the PMFME scheme and how does it help small businesses?
The Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PMFME) scheme is a Central government initiative that provides credit-linked subsidies and support to formalise India's unorganised micro food processing sector. It helps small units like Natura Ventures in Hubballi access institutional credit, scale production, and create local employment.
Who runs Natura Ventures in Hubballi?
Natura Ventures is managed by entrepreneur Medha Kanagil along with her husband Mohan Kanagil, her son, and more than 10 staff members. The unit is located in Vishweshwar Nagar, Hubballi, Karnataka.
What products does Natura Ventures produce?
The enterprise produces pure cooking oil and coconut oil, which are distributed across Karnataka. It has also diversified into cattle feed preparation using oilseed-based products, with output running into hundreds of tonnes.
How has the PMFME scheme helped create employment in Hubballi?
Natura Ventures used PMFME scheme support and SBI financial assistance to expand operations and hire local youth and women who were unemployed, particularly in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. The enterprise now employs more than 10 staff members.
What role did SBI play in the growth of Natura Ventures?
The State Bank of India provided financial assistance that was critical to expanding the business, improving operations, and enabling the enterprise to generate employment. Medha Kanagil specifically credited SBI's support alongside the PMFME scheme for the unit's growth.
