This story from Bathinda, Punjab has a history of bakery processing spanning over 70 years. Mr. Pawan Kumar Puri (56) in his early childhood days used to spend time in the bakery with his father Sh. Sohan Lal Puri. Over there he would watch him spend countless hours making bakery products like biscuits, bread, etc. As he grew up, he learned the art and skill of bakery processing from his father and set up Pammi’s National Bakers Bathinda, Punjab in 1994.

One day, he visited Delhi and observed that a food-based company had set up several outlets in the capital and was running a successful business. This was the moment that sparked the idea in his mind to expand his bakery and go beyond local markets. He realized that in order to scale up his business, he would need to purchase machinery to increase the production capacity of his bakery. But he did not have ample funds to do so. He came to know about the PM Formalisation of Micro food processing Enterprises (PMFME) Scheme and its various benefits like financial, technical, and business support for micro food processing enterprises, Self Help Groups, Farmer Producer Organizations, and Cooperatives.

Under the PMFME Scheme, he received a bank loan of Rs. 32,69,780 in April 2022. With the help of the loan amount, he purchased an oven, trays and additional machinery used in bakery processing. With the help of this machinery, the production capacity of his bakery doubled from 45kg/day per day to 90 kg/day. The product portfolio of Pammi’s National Bakers also widened and includes the processing of products like bread, biscuits, pizza base, rusk, etc.

Mr. Puri is marketing the products in Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan with a vision of exporting his products to other countries and creating a global brand for bakery products. He has also set up a bakery manufacturing unit with his wife Mrs. Shashi Puri in Bathinda to further expand the business. They are working towards the empowerment of women and have conducted training of Self Helps Group members from nearby districts in the domain of bakery processing. They have also collaborated with the Punjab Agricultural University to conduct bakery processing technical training sessions for entrepreneurs.

Pammi’s National Bakers is generating a revenue of approximately Rs. 35,000 per day and with the support received under the PMFME Scheme, they expect to witness an increase in the revenue to Rs. 80,000 per day. The financial turnover of the enterprises for FY 2021-22 was Rs. 1,54,92,009.

(Content shared by Pammi’s National Bakers)