Assamese innovator designs 40 user friendly machines
By Ajit Patowary
 GUWAHATI, Sept 4 – Working out the problems in a small workshop at North Lakhimpur town in the State's flood-ravaged Lakhimpur district, this 40-year-old innovation wizard has so far designed and manufactured 40 long sought-for machines. He is now a technical expert-cum-role model for the National Innovation Foundation (NIF) of the country.

He is Uddhab Kumar Bharali, a mechanical engineer of the 1988 batch of the Institute of Engineers (India). He started his UKB Agrotech, a house-machine design and research firm, around 1992 on his own, spending some hopeless years running after those in the corridors of power seeking support to set up a machine designing-cum-training firm. His first machine was the modern dheki, the re-designed Assamese paddy grinder, which could be operated by turning a wheel.

But to emerge as the real innovator, he had to borrow an amount of Rs 30,000 from a private moneylender at a monthly interest rate of 10 per cent on the principal amount. In the meantime, he had to shoulder the burden of a family loan of Rs 11 lakh. With the amount he borrowed, he developed the green arecanut-peeling machine in 2001.

Bharali had to accept the challenge of developing the arecanut peeler thrown by the then Chief Innovation Officer (CIO) of the Gyan-NE, the NE branch of the NIF, to secure NIF support. Till then developing a green arecanut peeler was thought to be impossible by the innovators worldwide. Bharali could develop the machine within 20 days. The innovation of Bharali was so appreciated that when its live demonstration was held on the Guwahati IIT campus, Karnataka-based Dharma Technology acquired its technology for a period of five years since 2001, for the state of Karnataka. The same company also procured the machine for marketing in Singapore and Chile, said Bharali.

Then came the cassava-peeling machine in early 2002. This machine has a tremendous demand in South Africa and Central American countries. As, in these countries, which have been facing famine-like situations, cassava flour is considered to be the best nutritious food.

By this time, he was successful in receiving the support of the NIF. And with such support, Bharali started working on a series of machines and thus came the 'Safed Musli Peeler', the 'Passion-fruit Gel Extractor', 'Aloebera Gel Extractor', the 'Dhoop Making Machines', the 'Bamboo-craft Machines', the 'Paddy Thrasher', the 'Stevia Pulveriser', the 'Garlic-peeling Machine' and finally the 'Pomegranate De-seeder'. The last named machine has found market all over the world.

Bharali is the first man in the world to develop the 'Cassava Peeler', the 'Arecanut Peeler' and the 'Pomegranate De-seeder'. The Discovery Channel telecast his innovation of the third machine in January last. In his list of innovations, one more machine—'Jatropha De-seeding Machine'— was also added recently.

Now Bharali is engaged in developing a device that can mechanise bamboo splitting for weaving tarza walls. The NEDFi has sponsored this venture.

Bharali has by now received 33 national and international assignments, which include the ones for sugarcane-peeling, mango-peeling, mini tea plant with the capacity to produce 100 kgs of processed tea per day and bamboo artisan craft machine. A company from Nairobi has placed the order for the mini tea plant with him, while he received the order for the bamboo artisan craft machine from a South African company through the Beijing-based International Network for Bamboo and Rattan. He has also received several other assignments from International Fund for Agricultural Development.

Of late, he has received an assignment for manufacturing a ginger-peeling machine from Nepal through the NIF and another assignment for a potato-peeling and slicing machine from the UK, Bharali said.

He attributes the popularity of his innovations to their designs that make more production possible with less consumption of power. Moreover, his machines do not require any foundation, he said.