Mahila Udyog, an organisation of Bihar's women entrepreneurs, ahead of Bihar Budget stated that in the upcoming state's budget on February 28 they expect special incentives for businesswomen, which will aid them to overcome a lack of infrastructure and technical support needed for their products to reach markets.
Usha Jha, the president of the Bihar Mahila Udyog Sangh, said there is an excellent potential for handicrafts and the food industry in the state. “Especially for the rural women, who are skilled in preparing food products. However, due to the lack of training in food processing, packaging, and marketing, they could not convert it into earning sources.”
In most rural areas, Jha added that there are no processing units or storage space, even for products such as sauces, jam, and jelly.
Jute products producer Amita Gupta stated “the availability of raw materials is a problem.” She added they received a good quality of jute from Kolkata, but the high expenditure on logistics makes the products costlier. Receiving raw material from other states is also consumes time, she said.
Another entrepreneur named Manju Jha said her business has failed to grow over two decades due to the want of storage facilities. She said there is an emergency for the food processing for the growth of the food business. Due to the lack of infrastructure and technical support they failed to create brands.
