Entrepreneur Turns 500 Tonnes of Waste into ‘Black Gold’, Earns Turnover of Crores

Sana Khan from Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, earns Rs 1 crore by making vermicompost (enriched compost made with the use of earthworms).

She says she had always wanted to be a doctor, but failed to clear the entrance test. It was during a final-year engineering project that she got a chance to work on a vermicomposting project. 

“During the project, I became fascinated with and attached to the worms and thought — why not implement this project on a large scale? I started breeding these worms and began commercialising this product,” Sana tells The Better India.

So in 2014, with funding from her brother, she set up S J Organics vermicomposting company.

Although her first business model did not work out, she figured out an alternative and employed contractors to bring in dairy and biodegradable household waste. Each batch of vermicompost at SJ Organics is lab tested to meet the certification standards. The company also customises composts according to soil requirements. 

By 2020, the company received 500 tonnes of waste and produced 150 tonnes of vermicompost per month. Today, it has an annual turnover of Rs 1 crore a year and provides employment to more than 30 people.

Under SJ Organics’ consultancy, more than 100 schools in Meerut have now set up vermicomposting sites. They also conduct training programmes for entrepreneurs.

Sana hopes that by sharing her knowledge of vermicomposting, she can popularise organic farming methods, not just in Uttar Pradesh, but all over the country.

Watch this video to learn more about her work: 

Edited by Divya Sethu