On Saturday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the formation of a Makhana Board in Bihar during her budget 2025 speech. Following the announcement, social media billionaire entrepreneur Nikhil Kamath, co-founder of Zerodha, that highlighted the massive potential of this superfood caught widespread attention.
Just days before the before the Budget, on January 17, Kamath took to social media to share an insightful post on Makhana, describing it as a superfood with the potential to become a Rs 6,000 crore industry.
“Maybe room here to build a really large brand, an Indian brand that sells to the world. Personally, I’m hooked on Makhana,” Kamath wrote, accompanied by visuals explaining the health benefits of foxnuts and their global market potential.
In his post Kamath also shed light on the struggles faced by Makhana farmers. “Makhana isn’t a very high-yield crop. First, you have to work through thorny leaves and muddy ponds to gather seeds, then dry and manually pop the seeds under high heat,” he said.
Highlighting inefficiencies in the process, he said, “In all of this, a lot of the crop goes to waste. Out of these, only about 2 per cent of popped seeds meet export quality standards. Only about 40 per cent of the gathered seeds are edible.”
Kamath also pointed out that while Makhana has traditionally been a Bihar-centric industry, it is now expanding to states like Assam, Manipur, West Bengal, Tripura, and Odisha.
How Makhana Board will help Bihar?
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman emphasised the growing demand for nutritious foods like Makhana during her budget 2025 speech. “With rising income levels, the consumption of fruits is also increasing, and remuneration for farmers will also grow in collaboration with states. There is a special opportunity in Bihar — the Makhana Board will be established in the state to provide training and support to Makhana farmers,” she said.
Interestingly, Bihar accounts for nearly 90 per cent of the total makhana production in India. The dried snack has gained popularity worldwide as a “superfood”. In the recent years, Makhana has become a top choice for fitness enthusiasts globally as it is a gluten-free and low-fat snack, with some hailing it as a superfood. As per The Hindu report, it is sold in the international wholesale market at about Rs 8,000 per kg, a major jump from Rs 1,000 about a decade ago.
According to the market research firm Spherical Insights, the global makhana market was valued at $43.56 million in 2023 and is expected to reach $100 million by 2033. Besides a snack, fox nuts can be consumed in desserts like kheer or savoury dishes. Many brands like Farmley and Mr Makhana have started selling flavoured makhana packs. The industry estimates the size of the flavoured makhana market at Rs 150 crore every year, reported Mint.
According to a 2020 paper by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, “Makhana crop is grown in almost 15,000 hectares in Bihar which produces nearly 10,000 tonnes of popped makhana.”
The production is spread over nine districts of northern and eastern Bihar — Darbhanga, Madhubani, Purnea, Katihar, Araria, Kishanganj, Saharsa, Supoul and Sitamarhi, noted Indian Express.
Makhanas are also produced in Assam, Manipur, West Bengal, Tripura and Odisha, as well as in countries like Nepal, Bangladesh, China, Japan, and Korea.
While Bihar is the largest producer of makhanas, it has failed to tap into the growing demand domestically as well in the global market. In fact, Punjab and Assam are the largest makhana exporters in India.
According to an Indian Express report, this is due to the lack of a food processing industry, low productivity, the required export infrastructure and an airport with cargo holds in Bihar.
“Thus, Bihar ends up selling all its fox nuts as raw material to FPUs (food processing units) outside the state at cheap prices. These FPUs add value to the product through flavouring and packaging, and thus command better prices,” a senior bureaucrat in Bihar told the newspaper on the condition of anonymity.
“Additionally, since the market in Bihar is not well-developed and organised, there is a long chain of intermediaries leading to those engaged in fox nut farming getting very low prices compared to what makhana commands in the commercial market. Thus, neither the farmer, nor the state — in terms of revenue — earns what they actually can,” the bureaucrat said as quoted by Indian Express.
About five lakh families, mostly from the Mallah (fishermen and boatmen) community, in Bihar are involved in the farming and harvesting of Makhana.
The Makahana Board, announced by the finance minister in the Union Budget, is expected to help Bihar tackle the challenges in makhana cultivation. It is likely to provide training to farmers to make them export-centric. The board is expected to encourage investments in the food processing sector, and help develop the necessary export infrastructure, reported Indian Express.
Last year, the Bihar government urged the Centre to declare the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for makhana. The state government supports makhana cultivation through subsidies and the One District One Product scheme. However, farmers say more needs to be done.
A political message before Bihar Assembly Elections?
The formation of Makhana Board may also please he Mallah community (fisherfolk and boatmen) as the community is involved in Makhana farming. According to a report by Indian Express, Mallahs, who account for about 2.6% of Bihar’s population, are concentrated in these riverine belts, bestowing upon them higher electoral influence than their overall numbers would suggest.
The report maintains that any impetus to the makhana industry, which has immense unrealised potential in Bihar, will improve the earnings of Mallah farmers. “The Centre’s announcement is significant,” JD(U) working president Sanjay Jha told The Indian Express. “The demand for makhana is rising internationally and Bihar is the largest producer of the seed in the country. It will not only give much-needed impetus to the makhana industry in Bihar but will also help its farmers who come from the impoverished community of fishermen. Since it is a labour-intensive industry, it will also create jobs for the community.”
According to Jha, the announcement has come at the right time. Mallahs have traditionally sided with social justice parties in Bihar since the JP Movement. In the recent years, all parties have reached out to them given that they are also an assertive caste influencing other lower castes that rally behind them. In the 2020 Assembly elections, the BJP gave 11 seats to the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) led by Mukesh Sahani who calls himself a “son of Mallah”.