How agritech startup of 3 Idiots' inspiration Sonam Wangchuk's student is helping farmers from hills

Like teacher, like student. What do you expect from the student of Sonam Wangchuk, the person who has been the inspiration for Aamir Khan's character, Phunsuk Wangdu in the superhit movie 3 Idiots? Aamir Khan is seen in the movie moving to Ladakh after engineering graduation and starting a school where students do out-of-the-box experiments. In real life, Wangchuk runs a similar school in Ladakh and has produced many low-cost products that have changed the lives of scores of people in the hills and outside. Likewise, we expect his students to do similar experiments and manufacture the same products that change the lives of people from all walks of life, specially in hilly areas.

This is what his student, Himanshu Dua, is doing through his startup, My Pahadi Dukan, which aims to improve the lives of Himalayan farmers by taking their products to the global stage.

The startup that was started in 2021 by Dua and his three other friends—Rohan Sehgal, Shubham Tandon, and Mohammad Anas Zubair—by clubbing Rs 25000 each has now grown into a company with Rs 80 lakh turnover.

My Pahadi Dukan sells its products through its website and also delivers them to international destinations.

Dua's association with Wangchuk started in 2019-20 when he took the HILLs fellowship under his leadership.

However, he met the founders of the startup a year later, during the Naropa Fellowship in Ladakh.

The idea of My Pahari Shop came during a fellowship (2020–21) in Ladakh, named Naropa Fellowship. 

Dua has pursued graduation in botany and a Masters in forensic science; Sehgal is a mechanical engineer; Zubair is a software engineer by profession and a mountaineer by passion.

None of them had a common ground except that they wanted to do something for the people of the hills.

During their fellowship, they observed that the people of the countryside in Ladakh knew little about the products of the hilly region.

Even those who knew did not know how to order it.

Even if they knew about the order, they had little knowledge of what the quality of the product should be.

The four friends saw it as an opportunity and a way to help, so they started My Pahari Shop.

Through their startup, they wanted people to produce quality Pahari products with trusted brands.

The little idea has now grown to associate more than 3000 farmers in the Himalayas with their startup through co-operative and self-help groups in less than four years.

The startup also provides them with a free consultation on how they can maintain the quality of their products or how they can package them.Dua says that 30–40 percent of his customers return to buy products from them.

Quality Pahari products reaching 25 countries

This startup claims to sell more than 150 types of products from the Himalayan region, every batch of which reaches the customers only after passing a lab test.

This startup claims to deliver Himalayan products to about 25 countries.

The startup forged a partnership with Bhutan to become the official channel partner for selling Bhutanese products in India. 

Funding and future

My Pahari Dukan got its first funding from Ritesh Aggarwal, who gave a grant of Rs 5 lakh.

The Department of Science and Technology, through IIT Mandi, also gave a grant of Rs 3 lakh.

HDFC Parivartan Yojana has provided equity-based funding of Rs 19 lakh for the startup.

Last year, the startup got a grant of Rs 25 lakh from IIM Kashipur. 

What is the plan for the future?

My Pahari Dukan is also working towards increasing its product portfolio.

Dua says that there are many Pahari products about which people are not yet aware.

He wants all those products to be made available to the people.