Leaving behind a high-paying software job worth lakhs of rupees per month, B.Tech engineer Vikram Dev Mahapatra from Nabarangpur has become a successful agricultural entrepreneur. By setting up a button mushroom unit under the Chief Minister’s Agriculture Entrepreneurship Scheme, he has turned the vision of an “Atmanirbhar Bharat” into reality.
Today, Vikram not only earns lakhs of rupees every month but has also provided employment to 24 local youths, helping them become financially independent. Earlier, Nabarangpur depended on neighboring districts and states for button mushrooms. Now, mushrooms produced in Nabarangpur are being supplied to other districts and states, giving the district a new identity.
Vikram Dev Mahapatra is a B.Tech graduate who worked for 14 years in different software companies in India and abroad with a lucrative salary package. During the COVID period, while working from home, he developed the idea of starting a business in his native area. His aim was to become self-reliant and create jobs for others.
The Chief Minister’s Agriculture Entrepreneurship Scheme helped him establish a modern button mushroom unit. For this project, he took a bank loan of ₹2 crore and invested another ₹1 crore from his own savings. Under the scheme, he received a 40% subsidy amounting to ₹97 lakh.
The mushroom unit, located at Agnipur near Nabarangpur town, uses modern technology and temperature-controlled chambers for mushroom cultivation. Special bags are prepared through a scientific process, from which mycelium develops and button mushrooms grow.
The unit has six chambers, and every month three chambers together produce around 15 tonnes of button mushrooms. Mushrooms are carefully harvested in three stages from each bag and immediately packed with ice packets to maintain freshness.
According to plant employee Duryodhan Bhatra, the mushrooms are sold in the local wholesale market at prices ranging from ₹110 to ₹200 per kilogram. Around 500 kilograms of mushrooms are produced daily and supplied outside the district as well.
The unit has created employment for 18 women and 6 men, including workers involved in marketing. The employees are happy to get good income and convenient work opportunities near their villages.
Vikram Dev Mahapatra’s success story has now become a source of inspiration for many unemployed youths, showing that agriculture and entrepreneurship can create both self-employment and opportunities for others.
