Jammu, June 01: Lavender has given the small Jammu and Kashmir town of Bhaderwah a national identity and also a national role in India’s economic growth, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said on Sunday.
Inaugurating a two-day Lavender festival 2025 organised by CSIR-IIIM Jammu in Doda district’s Bhaderwah town, the minister of state in the Prime Minister’s office lauded the Agri-Startup model of Lavender farming as a transformative force that has rewritten the narrative of entrepreneurship in remote and hilly terrains. “Bhaderwah, once a quiet hilly town, is now a beacon of India’s rural startup revolution. Lavender has not just added fragrance to these mountains, it has added identity, income, and inspiration,” Singh said.
He said this single mission has answered multiple challenges and busted the myth that startups are limited to IT or require foreign degrees.
“Our youth in Jammu and Kashmir, in collaboration with CSIR-IIIM, have shown that passion, perseverance, and learning can build sustainable ventures rooted in agriculture,” he said.
The minister proudly shared that young entrepreneurs in Bhaderwah are earning an average of Rs 65 lakhs annually through lavender cultivation and value-added products, motivating many others to leave conventional jobs and pursue farming as a lucrative business opportunity.
He credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for introducing Bhaderwah and the Purple Revolution to the national stage.
“When the Prime Minister dedicated nearly 10 minutes in his ‘Mann Ki Baat’ to talk about this Lavender mission in detail, it gave the best possible global introduction to Bhaderwah — one that we could not have imagined,” Singh said.
The Minister emphasised that it was Modi’s vision of StartUp India and StandUp India, announced from the ramparts of the Red Fort, that ignited the entrepreneurial spirit in regions that previously needed long explanations to justify their existence on the developmental map.
He revealed that there are currently 50 distillation units operational in Bhaderwah, with lavender-derived products being supplied to markets in Maharashtra and other states.
The model has not only attracted attention from neighbouring states like Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, but also from the North-Eastern states, whose representatives were present at the festival to gain first-hand insights, he said.
“This is a new paradigm the world is witnessing – a rural, agriculture-based startup revolution that is both scalable and sustainable,” he remarked.
Another myth that Singh addressed was the misconception that StartUps are only for the young.
He shared that a special exhibition featuring 60 plus age group entrepreneurs will be showcased in the next edition of the festival.
Drawing a broader economic context, Singh said, “India has moved from the fifth largest to the fourth largest economy, and sectors like lavender cultivation will further fuel our rise. These unexplored areas, when empowered, will become pillars of value addition and employment generation.”
He also addressed skepticism around India’s economic resilience amid aggressive defence postures.
“Despite challenging times and operations like Sindoor, India’s economy has not only remained buoyant but also grown. That is a fitting reply to skeptics,” he asserted.
Singh praised director CSIR-IIIM Zabeer Ahmad and his team for organizing an unprecedented event in Bhaderwah that drew visitors from all over India.
He invited everyone to visit the lavender fields over the next 10–15 days during peak bloom and hear directly from the entrepreneurs themselves.
